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Estimating the Productivity of Community Colleges in Paving the Road to Four-Year Success

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  • Scott E. Carrell
  • Michal Kurlaender

Abstract

The distinct mission and open-access nature of community colleges and the diverse goals of the students they serve make it difficult to assess differences in quality across community college campuses. In this paper, we investigate institutional differences in both the extensive and intensive margin of the transfer function across California's 108 community college campuses. Importantly, due to the richness of our dataset, we are able to adjust our estimates for a host of observed student differences, including scores on 11th grade math and English standardized tests. Results show there is significant variation in community college quality for both the probability of transfer as well as outcomes measuring how well students perform after transferring. Additionally, we examine whether any observable characteristics of the community college are significantly correlated with transfer productivity.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22904
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. 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).
    2. 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.
    3. 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.

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    JEL classification:

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

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