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The Economic Impact of Access to Public Four-Year Colleges

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  • Jonathan Smith
  • Joshua Goodman
  • Michael Hurwitz

Abstract

We provide the first estimated economic impacts of students’ access to an entire sector of public higher education in the U.S. Approximately half of Georgia high school graduates who enroll in college do so in the state’s public four-year sector, which requires minimum SAT scores for admission. Regression discontinuity estimates show enrollment in public four-year institutions boosts students’ household income around age 30 by 20 percent, and has even larger impacts for those from low income high schools. Access to this sector has little clear impact on student loan balances or other measures of financial health. For the marginal student, enrollment in such institutions has large private returns even in the short run and positive returns to state budgets in the long run.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan Smith & Joshua Goodman & Michael Hurwitz, 2020. "The Economic Impact of Access to Public Four-Year Colleges," NBER Working Papers 27177, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27177
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    7. Serena Canaan & Pierre Mouganie, 2018. "Returns to Education Quality for Low-Skilled Students: Evidence from a Discontinuity," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(2), pages 395-436.
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    9. Scott-Clayton, Judith & Zafar, Basit, 2019. "Financial aid, debt management, and socioeconomic outcomes: Post-college effects of merit-based aid," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 68-82.
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    12. Seth D. Zimmerman, 2014. "The Returns to College Admission for Academically Marginal Students," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(4), pages 711-754.
    13. 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.
    14. Janet Currie & Enrico Moretti, 2003. "Mother's Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from College Openings," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1495-1532.
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    16. Mark Hoekstra, 2009. "The Effect of Attending the Flagship State University on Earnings: A Discontinuity-Based Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(4), pages 717-724, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael D. Bloem & Weixiang Pan & Jonathan Smith, 2021. "College entrance exam‐taking strategies in Georgia," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(2), pages 587-627, October.
    2. Cortes, Kalena E. & Klasik, Daniel, 2020. "Uniform Admissions, Unequal Access: Did the Top 10% Plan Increase Access to Selective Flagship Institutions?," IZA Discussion Papers 13988, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Marin Drlje & Stepan Jurajda, 2021. "LATE Estimators under Costly Non-compliance in Student-College Matching Markets," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp686, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    4. Cecilia Machado & Germ'an Reyes & Evan Riehl, 2023. "The Direct and Spillover Effects of Large-scale Affirmative Action at an Elite Brazilian University," Papers 2305.02513, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2023.
    5. Tymon Sloczynski, 2021. "When Should We (Not) Interpret Linear IV Estimands as LATE?," CESifo Working Paper Series 9064, CESifo.
    6. Machado, Cecilia & Reyes, Germán & Riehl, Evan, 2022. "Alumni Job Networks at Elite Universities and the Efficacy of Affirmative Action," IZA Discussion Papers 15026, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Cecilia Machado & Germán Reyes & Evan Riehl, 2023. "The Efficacy of Large-Scale Affirmative Action at Elite Universities," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0311, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    8. Klasik, Daniel & Cortes, Kalena E., 2022. "Uniform admissions, unequal access: Did the top 10% plan increase access to selective flagship institutions?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    9. Edwards, Ashley & Ortagus, Justin & Smith, Jonathan & Smythe, Andria, 2023. "HBCU Enrollment and Longer-Term Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 16632, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • 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

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