Labor Economics Commons^™

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

Employment Research Newsletter

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 …

How Receiving A Pell Grant Affects Students’ Work Hours, Michael S. Kofoed

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.

Pell Grants And Labor Supply: Evidence From A Regression Kink, Michael S. Kofoed

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

A concern in higher education policy is that students are taking longer to graduate. One possible reason for this observation is an increase in off-campus labor market participation among college students. Financial aid may play a role in the labor/study choice of college students—as college becomes more affordable, students my substitute away from work and toward increased study. I use data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) to exploit nonlinearity in the Pell Grant formula to estimate a regression kink and regression discontinuity designs. I find that conditional on receiving the minimum of $550, students reduce their labor …

How Does The Elimination Of State Aid To For-Profit Colleges Affect Enrollment?: Evidence From California’S Reforms, Oded Gurantz, Ryan Sakoda, Shayak Sarkar

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.

How Does The Elimination Of State Aid To For-Profit Colleges Affect Enrollment? Evidence From California’S Reforms, Oded Gurantz, Ryan Sakoda, Shayak Sarkar

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

This paper examines how financial aid reform based on postsecondary institutional performance impacts student choice. Federal and state regulations often reflect concerns about the private, for-profit sector’s poor employment outcomes and high loan defaults, despite the sector’s possible theoretical advantages. We use student-level data to examine how eliminating public subsidies to attend low-performing for-profit institutions impacts students’ college enrollment and completion behavior. Beginning in 2011, California tightened eligibility standards for their state aid program, effectively eliminating most for-profit eligibility. Linking data on aid application to administrative payment and postsecondary enrollment records, this paper utilizes a difference-in differences strategy to investigate …

Economic Costs And Benefits Of Tuition-Free College In Illinois, Timothy J. Bartik, Michelle Miller-Adams, Brian Pittelko, Bridget Timmeney

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Beyond Degrees: The Kalamazoo Promise And Workforce Outcomes, Isabel Mcmullen, Brad J. Hershbein

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Estimated Cost Of Tuition-Free College In Illinois, Michelle Miller-Adams, Brian Pittelko, Bridget Timmeney

Reports

This memo estimates the cost of two possible program designs for a statewide college scholarship program for the State of Illinois. These assumptions and associated cost estimates, once approved or revised, will form the basis for the next stage of this project, which is assessing the economic impact of tuition-free college in Illinois.

Economic Benefits And Costs Of Tuition-Free College In Illinois, Timothy J. Bartik, Michelle Miller-Adams, Brian Pittelko, Bridget Timmeney

Reports

This memo estimates the main economic benefits of tuition-free college in Illinois. These economic benefits are compared with the costs of making tuition free. In addition, we consider possible fiscal benefits of tuition-free college and whether these fiscal benefits for Illinois will offset the fiscal costs of making tuition free. This memo is based on cost estimates presented to the State of Illinois in an August 2020 memo entitled “Estimated Cost of Tuition-Free College in Illinois” and should be considered in conjunction with that memo.

Beyond Degrees: The Kalamazoo Promise And Workforce Outcomes, Isabel Mcmullen, Brad J. Hershbein

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.

Beyond Degrees: Longer Term Outcomes Of The Kalamazoo Promise, Brad J. Hershbein, Isabel Mcmullen, Brian Pittelko, Bridget Timmeney

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We estimate the effects on workforce and location outcomes of the Kalamazoo Promise, a generous, place-based college scholarship. Drawing upon administrative unemployment insurance wage records merged with individual-level education data, we identify Promise effects by comparing eligible to ineligible graduates before and after the Promise’s initiation. We supplement this quantitative analysis with surveys and interviews. Despite earlier research showing that the Kalamazoo Promise substantially increased degree attainment, we find little evidence that the program affected average earnings within 10 years of high school graduation. However, the Kalamazoo Promise may have increased the likelihood of eligible graduates having earnings, within Michigan, …

How College Enrollment Changed For Kalamazoo Promise Students Between Fall 2019 And Fall 2020, Daniel Collier, Isabel Mcmullen, Brad J. Hershbein

Upjohn Institute Policy Papers

The COVID-19 pandemic greatly reduced the college enrollment rate for students during the Fall 2020 semester. National data show that although enrollment of new students declined overall, it varied substantially by institution type and student characteristics. What national data do not reveal is how certain communities with already high college-going rates responded to the pandemic. We use data from Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS) and the tuition-free program the Kalamazoo Promise to compare the immediate college enrollment of graduating high school students from the class of 2019 to that of the class of 2020. Overall, immediate college enrollment of KPS graduates …

Workforce Outcomes Of Tuition-Free College: Early Findings, Brad J. Hershbein, Michelle Miller-Adams

Presentations

No abstract provided.

The Promise Landscape In Michigan, Michelle Miller-Adams

Presentations

No abstract provided.

How Communities Can Connect Economic And Skills Development, Timothy J. Bartik, Brad J. Hershbein, Michelle Miller-Adams

Presentations

No abstract provided.

Biased Beliefs And Entry Into Scientific Careers, Ina Ganguli, Patrick Gaulé, Danijela Vuletić Čugalj

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We investigate whether excessively optimistic beliefs play a role in the persistent demand for doctoral and postdoctoral training in science. We elicit the beliefs and career preferences of doctoral students through a novel survey and randomize the provision of structured information on the true state of the academic market and information through role models on nonacademic careers. One year later, both treatments lead students to update their beliefs about the academic market and impact career preferences. However, we do not find an effect on actual career outcomes two years postintervention.

Year Three Report: Evaluating The Kansas City Scholars College Scholarship Program, Kevin Hollenbeck, Bridget Timmeney, Brad J. Hershbein, Shane M. Reed

Reports

No abstract provided.

College Attainment, Income Inequality, And Economic Security: A Simulation Exercise, Brad J. Hershbein, Melissa S. Kearney, Luke W. Pardue

Upjohn Institute Policy and Research Briefs

No abstract provided.

College Attainment, Income Inequality, And Economic Security: A Simulation Exercise, Brad J. Hershbein, Melissa S. Kearney, Luke W. Pardue

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We conduct an empirical simulation exercise that gauges the plausible impact of increased rates of college attainment on a variety of measures of income inequality and economic insecurity. Using two different methodological approaches—a distributional approach and a causal parameter approach—we find that increased rates of bachelor’s and associate degree attainment would meaningfully increase economic security for lower-income individuals, reduce poverty and near-poverty, and shrink gaps between the 90th and lower percentiles of the earnings distribution. However, increases in college attainment would not significantly reduce inequality at the very top of the distribution.

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 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.

Net Impact And Benefit-Cost Estimates Of The Workforce Development System In Washington State, Kevin Hollenbeck, Wei-Jang Huang

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Net Impact And Benefit-Cost Estimates Of The Workforce Development System In Washington State, Kevin Hollenbeck, Wei-Jang Huang

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

Net Impact And Benefit-Cost Estimates Of The Workforce Development System In Washington State, Kevin Hollenbeck, Wei-Jang Huang

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

This study estimates the net impacts and private and social benefits and costs of 11 workforce development programs administered in Washington State. Six of the programs serve job-ready adults: Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Title I-B Adult programs, WIA Title I-B Dislocated Worker programs, Community and Technical College Job Preparatory Training, Community and Technical College Worker Retraining, Private Career Schools, and Apprenticeships. Three of the programs serve adults with employment barriers: Community and Technical College Adult Basic Skills Education, IBEST, and Division of Vocational Rehabilitation programs. The other two programs serve youth: WIA Title I-B Youth programs and Secondary Career and …

New Labor Market Realities Require New Workforce Development Policies, Carl E. Van Horn

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

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

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of The Kalamazoo Promise On College Choice: An Analysis Of Kalamazoo Area Math And Science Center Graduates, Michelle Miller-Adams, Bridget Timmeney

Upjohn Institute Policy Papers

The Kalamazoo Promise has led to a pronounced shift in the college-going patterns of Kalamazoo Public Schools (KPS) students who attend the Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center (KAMSC). Following the introduction of the Kalamazoo Promise in 2005, the percentage of KPS KAMSC students attending public, in-state institutions of higher education has almost doubled—a shift that reflects the program rules of the Promise, which covers tuition and fees only at public postsecondary institutions in Michigan. The percentage of non-KPS KAMSC students attending an in-state, public institution also rose in the post-2006 period but only very slightly, suggesting that the Promise …