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A New Measure of College Quality to Study the Effects of College Sector and Peers on Degree Attainment

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  • Jonathan Smith

    (College Board Washington, DC 20036)

  • Kevin Stange

    (Gerald R. Ford School ofPublic Policy University of Michigan andNBER Ann Arbor, MI 48109)

Abstract

Students starting at a two-year college are much less likely to graduate than similar students who start at a four-year college, but the sources of this attainment gap are largely unexplained. This paper investigates the attainment consequences of sector choice and peer quality among recent high school graduates. Using data on all Preliminary SAT (PSAT) test-takers between 2004 and 2006, we develop a novel measure of peer ability for most two-year and four-year colleges in the United States—the average PSAT of enrolled students. We document substantial variation in this measure of peer quality across two-year colleges and nontrivial overlap between the two-year and four-year sectors. We find that half the gap in bachelor's degree attainment rates across sectors is explained by differences in peers, leaving room for structural barriers to transferring between institutions to also play an important role.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan Smith & Kevin Stange, 2016. "A New Measure of College Quality to Study the Effects of College Sector and Peers on Degree Attainment," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 11(4), pages 369-403, Fall.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:edfpol:v:11:y:2016:i:4:p:369-403
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    Cited by:

    1. Marina Bassi & Lelys Dinarte-Diaz & Maria Marta Ferreyra & Sergio Urzua, 2023. "What Makes a Program Good? Evidence from Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs in Five Developing Countries," CESifo Working Paper Series 10255, CESifo.
    2. Daniel Kreisman & Jonathan Smith & Bondi Arifin, 2023. "Labor Market Signaling and the Value of College: Evidence from Resumes and the Truth," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 58(6), pages 1820-1849.
    3. Scott E. Carrell & Michal Kurlaender, 2016. "Estimating the Productivity of Community Colleges in Paving the Road to Four-Year Success," NBER Working Papers 22904, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Joshua Goodman & Michael Hurwitz & Christine Mulhern & Jonathan Smith, 2019. "O Brother, Where Start Thou? Sibling Spillovers in College Enrollment," NBER Working Papers 26502, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Joshua Goodman & Michael Hurwitz & Jonathan Smith, "undated". "Access to Four-Year Public Colleges and Degree Completion," Working Paper 175226, Harvard University OpenScholar.
    6. Lelys Dinarte-Diaz & Maria Marta Ferreyra & Tatiana Melguizo & Angelica Sanchez, 2023. "The Contribution of Short-Cycle Programs to Student Outcomes: Evidence from Colombia," CESifo Working Paper Series 10262, CESifo.
    7. Loris P Fagioli & Rachel Baker & Gabe Avakian Orona, 2020. "The Role of Non-cognitive Variables in Identifying Community College Students in Need of Targeted Supports," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 61(6), pages 725-763, September.
    8. Dinarte Diaz,Lelys Ileana & Ferreyra,Maria Marta & Urzua,Sergio & Bassi,Marina, 2021. "What Makes a Program Good ? Evidence from Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9722, The World Bank.
    9. Joshua Goodman & Michael Hurwitz & Jonathan Smith, 2017. "Access to 4-Year Public Colleges and Degree Completion," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(3), pages 829-867.
    10. Ferreyra,Maria Marta & Franco Hernandez,Andrea & Melguizo,Tatiana & Sanchez Diaz,Angelica Maria, 2020. "Estimating the Contribution of Short-Cycle Programs to Student Outcomes in Colombia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9424, The World Bank.
    11. Dinarte-Diaz, Lelys & Ferreyra, Maria Marta & Urzua, Sergio & Bassi, Marina, 2023. "What makes a program good? Evidence from short-cycle higher education programs in five developing countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    12. Scott E. Carrell & Michal Kurlaender, 2018. "Estimating the Productivity of Community Colleges in Paving the Road to Four-Year College Success," NBER Chapters, in: Productivity in Higher Education, pages 291-315, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Bernal, Pedro & Mittag, Nikolas & Qureshi, Javaeria A., 2016. "Estimating effects of school quality using multiple proxies," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1-10.
    14. Goodman, Joshua & Hurwitz, Michael & Smith, Jonathan, 2015. "College Access, Initial College Choice and Degree Completion," Working Paper Series rwp14-030, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

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