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The Falling Time Cost of College: Evidence from Half a Century of Time Use Data

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  • Babcock, Phillip
  • Marks, Mindy

Abstract

Using multiple datasets from different time periods, we document declines in academic time investment by full-time college students in the United States between 1961 and 2003. Full-time students allocated 40 hours per week toward class and studying in 1961, whereas by 2003 they were investing about 27 hours per week. Declines were extremely broad-based, and are not easily accounted for by framing effects, work or major choices, or compositional changes in students or schools. We conclude that there have been substantial changes over time in the quantity or manner of human capital production on college campuses.

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  • Babcock, Phillip & Marks, Mindy, 2010. "The Falling Time Cost of College: Evidence from Half a Century of Time Use Data," University of California at Santa Barbara, Economics Working Paper Series qt7rc9d7vz, Department of Economics, UC Santa Barbara.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:ucsbec:qt7rc9d7vz
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    1. Volker Meier & Ioana Cosmina Schiopu, 2015. "Why Academic Quality in Higher Education Declines," CESifo Working Paper Series 5480, CESifo.
    2. Timothy G. Conley & Nirav Mehta & Ralph Stinebrickner & Todd Stinebrickner, 2024. "Social Interactions, Mechanisms, and Equilibrium: Evidence from a Model of Study Time and Academic Achievement," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 132(3), pages 824-866.
    3. Valerie A. Ramey & Neville Francis, 2009. "A Century of Work and Leisure," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 189-224, July.
    4. Beblavý, Miroslav & Teteryatnikova, Mariya & Thum, Anna-Elisabeth, 2015. "Does the growth in higher education mean a decline in the quality of degrees?," CEPS Papers 10258, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    5. Armstrong, J. Scott, 2012. "Natural Learning in Higher Education," MPRA Paper 37648, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Meier, Volker & Schiopu, Ioana, 2020. "Enrollment expansion and quality differentiation across higher education systems," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 43-53.
    7. Lutz Hendricks & Oksana Leukhina, 2017. "How Risky is College Investment?," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 26, pages 140-163, October.
    8. Blankenau, William F. & Gao, Yuan, 2014. "Admission standards, student effort, and the creation of skilled jobs," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 209-216.
    9. MacLeod, W. Bentley & Urquiola, Miguel, 2012. "Competition and Educational Productivity: Incentives Writ Large," IZA Discussion Papers 7063, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Jason P. Cumberledge, 2017. "The Time Usage of College Music Majors, Non-Music Majors, and Marching Band Participants," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(2), pages 21582440177, April.
    11. Scott-Clayton, Judith, 2012. "What Explains Trends in Labor Supply Among U.S. Undergraduates?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 65(1), pages 181-210, March.
    12. Steven Brint and Allison M. Cantwell, 2011. "ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES AND THE UNDERGRADUATE EXPERIENCE: Rethinking Bok’s “Underachieving Colleges” Thesis," University of California at Berkeley, Center for Studies in Higher Education qt83q89897, Center for Studies in Higher Education, UC Berkeley.
    13. MacLeod, W. Bentley & Urquiola, Miguel, 2012. "Anti-Lemons: School Reputation, Relative Diversity, and Educational Quality," IZA Discussion Papers 6805, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Mussie T. Tessema & Kathryn J. Ready & Marzie Astani, 2014. "Does Part-Time Job Affect College Students¡¯ Satisfaction and Academic Performance (GPA)? The Case of a Mid-Sized Public University," International Journal of Business Administration, International Journal of Business Administration, Sciedu Press, vol. 5(2), pages 50-59, March.
    15. Timothy Conley & Nirav Mehta & Ralph Stinebrickner & Todd Stinebrickner, 2015. "Social Interactions, Mechanisms, and Equilibrium: Evidence from a Model of Study Time and Academic Achievement," NBER Working Papers 21418, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Pedro Gomis-Porqueras & Juergen Meinecke & Jose A. Rodrigues-Neto, 2011. "New Technologies in Higher Education: Lower Attendance and Worse Learning Outcomes?," Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics, vol. 18(1), pages 69-84.
    17. Steven Brint, 2009. "THE ACADEMIC DEVOLUTION? Movements to Reform Teaching and Learning in US Colleges and Universities, 1985-2010," University of California at Berkeley, Center for Studies in Higher Education qt18j2m7kh, Center for Studies in Higher Education, UC Berkeley.
    18. Gomis-Porqueras, Pedro & Rodrigues-Neto, José A., 2018. "Teaching technologies, attendance, learning and the optimal level of access to online materials," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 329-342.
    19. Peter Arcidiacono & Esteban Aucejo & Ken Spenner, 2012. "What happens after enrollment? An analysis of the time path of racial differences in GPA and major choice," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-24, December.

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