IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_10262.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Contribution of Short-Cycle Programs to Student Outcomes: Evidence from Colombia

Author

Listed:
  • Lelys Dinarte-Diaz
  • Maria Marta Ferreyra
  • Tatiana Melguizo
  • Angelica Sanchez

Abstract

Short-cycle higher education programs (SCPs), lasting two or three years, capture about a quarter of higher education enrollment in the world and can play a key role enhancing workforce skills. In this paper, we estimate the program-level contribution of SCPs to student academic and labor market outcomes, and study how and why these contributions vary across programs. We exploit unique administrative data from Colombia on the universe of students, institutions, and programs to control for a rich set of student, peer, and local choice set characteristics. We find that program-level contributions account for about 60-70 percent of the variation in student-level graduation and labor market outcomes. Our estimates show that programs vary greatly in their contributions, across and especially within fields of study. Moreover, the estimated contributions are strongly correlated with program outcomes but not with other commonly used quality measures. Programs contribute more to formal employment and wages when they are longer, have been provided for a longer time, are taught by more specialized institutions, and are offered in larger cities.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10262
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp10262.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Justine S. Hastings & Christopher A. Neilson & Seth D. Zimmerman, 2013. "Are Some Degrees Worth More than Others? Evidence from college admission cutoffs in Chile," NBER Working Papers 19241, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Sacerdote, Bruce, 2011. "Peer Effects in Education: How Might They Work, How Big Are They and How Much Do We Know Thus Far?," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 4, pages 249-277, Elsevier.
    3. Stephanie Riegg Cellini & Hernando Grueso, 2021. "Student Learning in Online College Programs," NBER Working Papers 28552, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Sarah R. Cohodes & Joshua S. Goodman, 2014. "Merit Aid, College Quality, and College Completion: Massachusetts' Adams Scholarship as an In-Kind Subsidy," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 251-285, October.
    5. Hoxby, Caroline M. & Bulman, George B., 2016. "The effects of the tax deduction for postsecondary tuition: Implications for structuring tax-based aid," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 23-60.
    6. Ann Huff Stevens & Michal Kurlaender & Michel Grosz, 2019. "Career Technical Education and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from California Community Colleges," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(4), pages 986-1036.
    7. John Bound & Michael F. Lovenheim & Sarah Turner, 2010. "Why Have College Completion Rates Declined? An Analysis of Changing Student Preparation and Collegiate Resources," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 129-157, July.
    8. P. Teixeira & V. Rocha & R. Biscaia & M. F. Cardoso, 2013. "Competition and diversification in public and private higher education," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(35), pages 4949-4958, December.
    9. Falch, Torberg & Iversen, Jon Marius Vaag & Nyhus, Ole Henning & Strøm, Bjarne, 2022. "Quality measures in higher education: Norwegian evidence," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    10. Christopher Jepsen & Kenneth Troske & Paul Coomes, 2014. "The Labor-Market Returns to Community College Degrees, Diplomas, and Certificates," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(1), pages 95-121.
    11. Mabel, Zachary & Libassi, C.J. & Hurwitz, Michael, 2020. "The value of using early-career earnings data in the College Scorecard to guide college choices," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    12. Cellini, Stephanie Riegg & Chaudhary, Latika, 2014. "The labor market returns to a for-profit college education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 125-140.
    13. Stephanie Riegg Cellini & Nicholas Turner, 2019. "Gainfully Employed?: Assessing the Employment and Earnings of For-Profit College Students Using Administrative Data," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(2), pages 342-370.
    14. Stacy B. Dale & Alan B. Krueger, 2014. "Estimating the Effects of College Characteristics over the Career Using Administrative Earnings Data," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(2), pages 323-358.
    15. 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.
    16. Rodney J. Andrews & Scott A. Imberman & Michael F. Lovenheim, 2017. "Risky Business? The Effect of Majoring in Business on Earnings and Educational Attainment," NBER Working Papers 23575, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Liu, Vivian Y.T. & Belfield, Clive R. & Trimble, Madeline J., 2015. "The medium-term labor market returns to community college awards: Evidence from North Carolina," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 42-55.
    18. Altonji, J.G. & Arcidiacono, P. & Maurel, A., 2016. "The Analysis of Field Choice in College and Graduate School," Handbook of the Economics of Education,, Elsevier.
    19. Joseph G. Altonji & Richard K. Mansfield, 2018. "Estimating Group Effects Using Averages of Observables to Control for Sorting on Unobservables: School and Neighborhood Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(10), pages 2902-2946, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Rajashri Chakrabarti & Nicole Gorton & Michael F. Lovenheim, 2020. "State Investment in Higher Education: Effects on Human Capital Formation, Student Debt, and Long-Term Financial Outcomes of Students," CESifo Working Paper Series 8592, CESifo.
    4. 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).
    5. Esteban M. Aucejo & Claudia Hupkau & Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela, 2020. "Where versus What: College Value-Added and Returns to Field of Study in Further Education," CVER Research Papers 030, Centre for Vocational Education Research.
    6. 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.
    7. Arpita Patnaik & Matthew J. Wiswall & Basit Zafar, 2020. "College Majors," NBER Working Papers 27645, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Christopher Jepsen & Peter Mueser & Kenneth Troske & Kyung-Seong Jeon, 2023. "Estimates of Earnings Returns by Field of Study for For-Profit Schools and Community Colleges," CESifo Working Paper Series 10754, CESifo.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Nicolás de Roux & Evan Riehl, 2019. "Isolating Peer Effects in the Returns to College Selectivity," Documentos CEDE 17413, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    12. Celeste K. Carruthers & Christopher Jepsen, 2020. "Vocational Education: An International Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series 8718, CESifo.
    13. Gordon Dahl & Dan-Olof Rooth & Anders Stenberg, 2020. "High School Majors, Comparative (Dis)Advantage, and Future Earnings," NBER Working Papers 27524, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Juan Esteban Carranza & María Marta Ferreyra & Ana Maria Gazmuri, 2023. "The Dynamic Market for Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs," Borradores de Economia 1265, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    15. Luis Armona & Rajashri Chakrabarti & Michael F. Lovenheim, 2018. "How Does For-profit College Attendance Affect Student Loans, Defaults and Labor Market Outcomes?," NBER Working Papers 25042, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Peter Arcidiacono & Michael Lovenheim, 2016. "Affirmative Action and the Quality-Fit Trade-Off," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(1), pages 3-51, March.
    17. Christopher Jepsen & Peter Mueser & Kenneth Troske & Kyung-Seong Jeon, 2021. "The Benefits of Alternatives to Conventional College: Comparing the Labor-Market Returns to For-Profit Schools and Community Colleges," CESifo Working Paper Series 9272, CESifo.
    18. William N. Evans & Melissa S. Kearney & Brendan Perry & James X. Sullivan, 2020. "Increasing Community College Completion Rates Among Low‐Income Students: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluation of a Case‐Management Intervention," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(4), pages 930-965, September.
    19. Dahl, Gordon B. & Rooth, Dan-Olof & Stenberg, Anders, 2020. "Long-Run Returns to Field of Study in Secondary School," IZA Discussion Papers 13508, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Andrew Foote & Michel Grosz, 2020. "The Effect of Local Labor Market Downturns on Postsecondary Enrollment and Program Choice," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(4), pages 593-622, Fall.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    short-cycle programs; value added; quality; higher education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10262. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.