Education Commons^™

Tuition-Free College Options For Michigan: What Policymakers Need To Know About A Statewide Promise Program, Michelle Miller-Adams, Kyle Huisman

Reports

No abstract provided.

The Columbus Promise: Year One Evaluation Report, Michelle Miller-Adams, Kevin M. Hollenbeck, Bridget F. Timmeney, Kyle Huisman

Reports

No abstract provided.

Policies For Place: How To Make Sustainable Investments In Communities, Kathleen Bolter, Timothy J. Bartik, Brad J. Hershbein, Michelle Miller-Adams, Lee Adams, Brian J. Asquith, Alfonso Hernandez, Kyle Huisman, Iryna V. Lendel, Gabrielle Pepin, Bridget F. Timmeney, Beth C. Truesdale, Yulya Truskinovsky

Reports

No abstract provided.

Behind The Numbers: Comparing College-Going Outcomes Of Kalamazoo Public Schools To Those Of Similar Urban School Districts In Michigan, Kathleen Bolter, Brad J. Hershbein

Reports

No abstract provided.

Unequal Usage: Geographic Disparities And The Michigan Reconnect Program, Kyle Huisman, Kathleen Bolter

Reports

No abstract provided.

The Kalamazoo Promise: 2022 By The Numbers, Kathleen Bolter, Brad J. Hershbein, Alfonso Hernandez, Bridget F. Timmeney

Reports

No abstract provided.

The Decline Of Routine Tasks, Education Investments, And Intergenerational Mobility, Patrick Bennett, Kai Liu, Kjell Salvanes

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

How does a large structural change to the labor market affect education investments made at young ages? Exploiting differential exposure to the national decline in routine-task intensity across local labor markets, we show that the secular decline in routine tasks causes major shifts in education investments of high school students, where they invest less in vocational-trades education and increasingly invest in college education. Our results highlight that labor demand changes impact inequality in the next generation. Low-ability and low-SES students are most responsive to task-biased demand changes and, as a result, intergenerational mobility in college education increases.

The Free College Handbook: A Practitioner’S Guide To Promise Research, Michelle Miller-Adams Co-Editor, Jennifer Iriti Co-Editor, Meredith S. Billings, Celeste K. Carruthers, Gresham D. Collum, Denisa Gándara, Douglas N. Harris, Brad J. Hershbein, Amy Li, Danielle Lowry, Lindsay C. Page, Bridget F. Timmeney

Reports

No abstract provided.

College Academic Coaching Can Increase College Success And Later Earnings, Pierre Mouganie, Serena Canaan, Stefanie Fischer, Geoffrey C. Schnorr

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.

Keep Me In, Coach: The Short- And Long-Term Effects Of Targeted Academic Coaching, Serena Canaan, Stefanie Fischer, Pierre Mouganie, Geoffrey C. Schnorr

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

To boost college graduation rates, policymakers often advocate for academic supports such as coaching or mentoring. Proactive and intensive coaching interventions are effective, but are costly and difficult to scale. We evaluate a relatively lower-cost group coaching program targeted at first-year college students placed on academic probation. Participants attend a workshop where coaches aim to normalize failure and improve self-confidence. Coaches also facilitate a process whereby participants reflect on their academic difficulties, devise solutions to address their challenges, and create an action plan. Participants then hold a one-time follow-up meeting with their coach or visit a campus resource. Using a …

Degrees Of Poverty: The Relationship Between Family Income Background And The Returns To Education, Timothy J. Bartik, Brad J. Hershbein

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Drawing on the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we document a startling empirical pattern: the career earnings premium from a four-year college degree (relative to a high school diploma) for persons from low-income backgrounds is considerably less than it is for those from higher-income backgrounds. For individuals whose family income in high school was above 1.85 times the poverty level, we estimate that career earnings for bachelor’s graduates are 136 percent higher than earnings for those whose education stopped at high school. However, for individuals whose family income during high school was below 1.85 times the poverty level, the career …

Stem And The Local Economy: Do Regions Reap The Benefits Of A Stem-Educated Workforce?, Fran Stewart

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of The Kalamazoo Promise Scholarship On College Enrollment, Persistence, And Completion, Timothy J. Bartik, Brad J. Hershbein, Marta Lachowska

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We estimate the effects on postsecondary education outcomes of the Kalamazoo Promise, a generous, place-based college scholarship. We identify Promise effects using difference-in-differences, comparing eligible to ineligible graduates before and after the Promise’s initiation. According to our estimates, the Promise significantly increases college enrollment, college credits attempted, and credential attainment. Stronger effects occur for women.

Learning From A Decade Of College Promise Scholarships, Michelle Miller-Adams, Brad J. Hershbein

Presentations

The Upjohn Institute hosted a webinar Oct. 26, 2017 to hear from leaders in the place-based, or "promise" college scholarship movement. Funders of promise programs and local and state officials, including Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, spoke on how such programs have benefited their communities and addressed future challenges.

Propelled: The Effects Of Grants On Graduation, Earnings, And Welfare, Jeffrey T. Denning, Benjamin M. Marx, Lesley J. Turner

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We estimate the effect of grant aid on poor college students’ attainment and earnings using student-level administrative data from four-year public colleges in Texas. To identify these effects, we exploit a discontinuity in grant generosity as a function of family income. Eligibility for the maximum Pell Grant significantly increases degree receipt and earnings beginning four years after entry. Within 10 years, imputed taxes on eligible students’ earnings gains fully recoup total government expenditures generated by initial eligibility. To clarify how these estimates relate to social welfare, we develop a general theoretical model and derive sufficient statistics for the welfare implications …

Born Under A Lucky Star: Financial Aid, College Completion, Labor Supply, And Credit Constraints, Jeffrey T. Denning

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Higher education has experienced many changes since the 1970s, including an increase in the price of college, an increase in student employment during college, a decrease in college completion rates, and an increase in time to degree. This paper ties these trends together by causally linking changes in financial aid with time to degree and student employment during college. I find that additional financial aid accelerates graduation for university seniors because they increase credits attempted and reduce earnings while in college. In reaching this finding, I use administrative education and earnings data to examine a discrete change in the amount …

The Stem Dilemma: Skills That Matter To Regions, Fran Stewart

Upjohn Press

Fran Stewart dives into the murky waters where education and economic goals meet to confront several key issues facing policymakers and educators, including the role of public investment in human capital, the types of human capital investment that provide the greatest public return, and whether those investments should vary by region.

She shows that not all high-paying jobs require STEM skills; that not all good-paying, highly skilled STEM jobs require college degrees; and that "soft skills" are important for STEM as well as other high-paying jobs.

The Merits Of Universal Scholarships: Benefit-Cost Evidence From The Kalamazoo Promise, Timothy J. Bartik, Brad J. Hershbein, Marta Lachowska

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

As higher education costs rise, many communities have begun to adopt their own financial aid strategy: place-based scholarships for students graduating from the local school district. In this paper, we examine the benefits and costs of the Kalamazoo Promise, one of the more universal and more generous place-based scholarships. Building upon estimates of the program's heterogeneous effects on degree attainment, scholarship cost data, and projections of future earnings by education, we examine the Promise’s benefit-cost ratios for students differentiated by income, race, and gender. Although the average rate of return of the program is 11 percent, rates of return vary …

Late For The Meeting: Gender, Peer Advising, And College Success, Jimmy R. Ellis, Seth Gershenson

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Many male and first-generation college-goers struggle in their first year of postsecondary education. Mentoring programs have been touted as a potential solution to help such students acclimate to college life, yet causal evidence on the impact of such programs, and the factors that influence participation in them, is scant. This study leverages a natural experiment in which peer advisors (PAs) were quasi-randomly assigned to first-year university students to show that 1) male students were significantly more likely to voluntarily meet with their assigned PA when the PA was also male and 2) these compliers were significantly more likely to persist …

Income-Tested College Financial Aid And Labor Disincentives, Rajeev Darolia

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Working has become commonplace among college students; however, this activity can have unexpected financial consequences. Federal formulas implicitly tax the amount of financial aid students are eligible to receive by as much as 50 cents for each marginal dollar of income. This tax creates an incentive for college students to reduce income, though abstruse formulas and the timing of financial aid receipt are likely to limit responses. Using data from a national sample of financially independent college students in the United States, I do not find that students bunch below earnings protection thresholds in a manner that would indicate attempts …

The Production And Stock Of College Graduates For U.S. States, John V. Winters

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

The stock of human capital in an area is important for regional economic growth and development. However, highly educated workers are often quite mobile, and there is a concern that public investments in college graduates may not benefit the state if the college graduates leave the state after finishing their education. This paper examines the relationship between the production of college graduates from a state and the stock of college graduates residing in the state using microdata from the decennial census and American Community Survey. The relationship is examined across states and across cohorts within states. The descriptive analysis suggests …

Migration And Housing Price Effects Of Place-Based College Scholarships, Timothy J. Bartik, Nathan Sotherland

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Place-based college scholarships, such as the Kalamazoo Promise, provide students who live in a particular place, and/or who attend a particular school district, with generous college scholarships. An important potential benefit from such “Promise programs” is their short-term effects on local economic development. Generous Promise scholarships provide an incentive for families to locate in a particular place, which may change migration patterns, and potentially boost local employment and housing prices. Using data from the American Community Survey, this paper estimates the average effects of eight relatively generous Promise programs on migration rates and housing prices in their local labor market. …

Promise Nation: Transforming Communities Through Place-Based Scholarships, Michelle Miller-Adams

Upjohn Press

Miller-Adams describes how the various "Promise-type" place-based scholarship programs impact college access, financial aid, and community transformation.

Student Loans And The Dynamics Of Debt, Brad J. Hershbein, Editor, Kevin M. Hollenbeck, Editor

Upjohn Press

The papers included in this volume represent the most current research and knowledge available about student loans and repayment. It serves as a valuable reference for researchers and policymakers who seek a deeper understanding of how, why, and which students borrow for their postsecondary education; how this borrowing may affect later decisions; and what measures can help borrowers repay their loans successfully.

Refining Workforce Education Supply And Demand Analysis: Final Report, Brad J. Hershbein, Kevin M. Hollenbeck

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Student Loans: A Multidimensional Public Policy Issue, Brad J. Hershbein, Kevin M. Hollenbeck

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Kalamazoo Promise And Changing Perceptions Of The Kalamazoo Public Schools, Michelle Miller-Adams, Jenna Fiore

Upjohn Institute Policy Papers

This research brief addresses the question of whether the introduction of the Kalamazoo Promise in late 2005 brought about a shift in media coverage of Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS). It is part of an effort to examine the nonacademic effects of the Kalamazoo Promise—more specifically, if and how the Promise has changed the broader community. A review of educational content in the Kalamazoo Gazette and the Grand Rapids Press pre- and post-Promise announcement was analyzed to determine whether the introduction of the Kalamazoo Promise changed media coverage, thereby affecting community perceptions of KPS as compared to Grand Rapids Public Schools. …

The Distribution Of College Graduate Debt, 1990 To 2008: A Decomposition Approach, Brad J. Hershbein, Kevin M. Hollenbeck

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

Despite tremendous recent interest in the subject of student debt by both researchers and policy makers, little is known about how the distribution of college graduate debt has been evolving and what factors can explain it. We use National Postsecondary Student Aid Study data from 1990 through 2008 to document the evolution of college graduate debt profiles. We find that growth in debt over the 1990s was rapid and occurred throughout the distribution; during the 2000s, in contrast, debt grew appreciably only for the top quartile. Employing several decomposition techniques, we exploit the richness of the data to explain these …

Cost Estimate Of A Promise Scholarship Program For The City Of Jacksonville, Illinois, George Erickcek

Reports

No abstract provided.

A Second Look At Enrollment Changes After The Kalamazoo Promise, Brad J. Hershbein

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.