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Financial Aid, Student Background, and the Choice of First-year College Major

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  • Mark Stater

    (Department of Economics, Trinity College, 300 Summit Street, Hartford, CT 06106, USA.)

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of tuition and financial aid on first-year college majors at three large public institutions. Higher net costs of college attendance (tuition minus aid) increase the probability of choosing professional majors and decrease the probability of choosing humanities and science majors. The effect of tuition on the probability of choosing a major is generally larger for students with more high school credits in similar subjects and smaller for those with more credits in dissimilar subjects. Thus, financial incentives and student backgrounds interact to affect major choices in a way consistent with academic comparative advantage.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark Stater, 2011. "Financial Aid, Student Background, and the Choice of First-year College Major," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 37(3), pages 321-343.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:easeco:v:37:y:2011:i:3:p:321-343
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    Cited by:

    1. David L. Sjoquist & John V. Winters, 2015. "State Merit Aid Programs and College Major: A Focus on STEM," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(4), pages 973-1006.
    2. David Sjoquist & John Winters, 2015. "The effect of Georgia’s HOPE scholarship on college major: a focus on STEM," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-29, December.

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