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Who Scars the Easiest? College Quality and the Effects of Graduating into a Recession

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  • Garrett Anstreicher
  • Lois Miller

Abstract

Graduating from college into a recession is associated with earnings losses, but less is known about how these effects vary across colleges. Using restricted-use data from the National Survey of College Graduates, we study how the effects of graduating into worse economic conditions vary over college quality in the context of the Great Recession. We find that earnings losses are concentrated among graduates from relatively high-quality colleges. Key mechanisms include substitution out of the labor force and into graduate school, decreased graduate degree completion, and differences in the economic stability of fields of study between graduates of high- and low-quality colleges.

Suggested Citation

  • Garrett Anstreicher & Lois Miller, 2024. "Who Scars the Easiest? College Quality and the Effects of Graduating into a Recession," Working Papers 24-47, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    • Handle: RePEc:cen:wpaper:24-47
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    File URL: https://www2.census.gov/library/working-papers/2024/adrm/ces/CES-WP-24-47.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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