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The returns to higher education for marginal students: Evidence from Colorado Welfare recipients

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  • Turner, Lesley J.

Abstract

I estimate the impact of community college credits and credentials on the labor market outcomes of several cohorts of current and former welfare recipients. Using an individual fixed effects approach, I find that women who attend college after entering welfare experience large and significant earnings gains. These returns are driven by credential receipt and when sub-associate’ s degree credentials are unobservable, positive earnings gains will be inappropriately attributed to college attendance alone.

Suggested Citation

  • Turner, Lesley J., 2016. "The returns to higher education for marginal students: Evidence from Colorado Welfare recipients," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 169-184.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:51:y:2016:i:c:p:169-184
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.09.005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Benjamin M. Marx & Lesley J. Turner, 2019. "Student Loan Nudges: Experimental Evidence on Borrowing and Educational Attainment," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(2), pages 108-141, May.
    2. Celeste K. Carruthers & Christopher Jepsen, 2020. "Vocational Education: An International Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series 8718, CESifo.
    3. Berlingieri, Francesco & Bolz, Theresa, 2020. "Earnings of university dropouts across Europe," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-085, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    4. Jiang, Dezhi, 2021. "Whose Investments in Higher Education Have Been Most Influenced by Labor Market Conditions in Recent Decades?," SocArXiv 83upm, Center for Open Science.
    5. Lauren Schudde & Meghan Shea, 2022. "Heterogeneity in the Returns to Credits for Public Two-Year College Entrants," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 63(2), pages 337-367, March.
    6. Ana Maria Montoya & Carlos Noton & Alex Solis, 2017. "Returns to Higher Education: Vocational Education vs College," Documentos de Trabajo 334, Centro de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Chile.
    7. Carruthers, Celeste K. & Sanford, Thomas, 2018. "Way station or launching pad? Unpacking the returns to adult technical education," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 146-159.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Access to higher education; Community colleges; Welfare;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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