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Title: Essays on the Economics of Higher Education, Community College, and the Labor Market
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 2023
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Abstract: This work analyzes two fundamental issue at the intersection of higher education and the labor market - the returns to completing a credential and the effects of working while enrolled on subsequent student outcomes, with a focus on students of community colleges. There is a growing consensus that obtaining a sub-baccalaureate credential leads to increased earnings. However, it remains unclear to what degree these returns are driven by increases in productivity or labor supply. Using detailed UI data from Minnesota, I estimate the labor market returns associated with completing sub-baccalaureate credentials from community colleges. First I show that these credentials increase quarterly earnings, consistent with prior findings. I then decompose the proportion of earnings returns attributed to productivity (wages) and hours worked. More than 60% of the earnings returns to completing an associate degree are due to an increase in hours. This effect is largely driven by part-time workers being pulled into full-time work. Additionally, I find that those working few hours pre-college experience little-to-no wage gains from completing a credential, with nearly all of their earnings return stemming from working more hours post-graduation. I then proceed to analyze the relationship between attending college and gaining work experience and the empirical challenges therein. I find, after employing new methods to correct for endogeneity in the choice to work while enrolled, that term-time employment can have substantial detrimental effects on the probability of graduating, but that conditional on graduating, those who work more while enrolled do so faster. Taken together, the findings of these analyses highlight the tradeoffs students face between earning and learning.
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Authors: Dominy, Robert Bentley
Institution: University of Georgia
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Pages: 1-102
Data Collections: IPUMS CPS
Topics: Education, Labor Force and Occupational Structure
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