Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

College Enrollment: An Economic Analysis

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research

Part of the book series: Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research ((HATR,volume 29))

Abstract

The higher education system in the USA has been the envy of the world for decades. Yet recently, graduation rates in the USA have lagged behind those in other nations, raising concerns that the USA may not be able to maintain its competitive edge in human capital investment. Economic theory suggests that individuals enroll in college when the marginal benefit associated with enrollment exceeds the marginal cost. This chapter offers a detailed review of the factors influencing enrollment in a simple human capital model: the employment horizon, the college wage premium, the opportunity and net tuition costs, and the discount/interest rate. After a brief discussion of heterogeneity, a more complex model that relaxes many of the assumptions inherent in the simple model is presented. This model incorporates unemployment, benefits packages, taxes, and imperfect capital markets. The chapter concludes with a brief review of dynamic factors and supply-side constraints.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The discussion here is limited to enrollment. As stated in the introduction, enrollment is a necessary condition for graduation. To meet future needs, however, students must not only enroll but also graduate. Further work examining progress to a degree is essential, but beyond the scope of this text.

  2. 2.

    The employment rate (the number employed divided by the number in the population) could also be used to illustrate the impact of the Social Security Act, but this number shows far more variability over the course of business cycles.

  3. 3.

    Individuals who are in the military or enrolled in college full time are also excluded.

  4. 4.

    The post-World War II GI Bill also offered significant aid to veterans enrolling in college, and there is evidence (Bound and Turner 2002) that this bill substantially increased veterans’ educational attainment.

  5. 5.

    Resources that are purchased under contract are not purely variable if a minimum quantity or a minimum payment is required.

  6. 6.

    An underlying assumption of this discussion is that given the same income, those with less education would make the same consumption choices as those with more education. In fact, different individuals will value benefits differently. If less educated individuals place a lower value on benefits, then they will be less likely to receive them. So long, however, as they place a positive value on benefits, different benefits levels by education level still contribute to the compensation differential; it is only the value of the differential that is reduced.

  7. 7.

    The impact of the different types of financial aid has been studied much more extensively in the literature on persistence (see, e.g., St. John and Starkey 1995; DesJardins et al. 1999).

  8. 8.

    By contrast, in looking at the impact of baby boomers’ retirements, Neumark et al. (2013) report that a skill shortage is unlikely to occur in the next 5 years.

References

  • Adelman, C. (1999). Answers in the tool box: Academic intensity, attendance patterns, and bachelor’s degree attainment. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adelman, C. (2006). The toolbox revisited: Paths to degree completion from high school through college. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alm, J., & Winters, J. V. (2009). Distance and intrastate college student migration. Economics of Education Review, 28(6), 728–738.

    Google Scholar 

  • Altonji, J. (1993). The demand for and return to education when education outcomes are uncertain. Journal of Labor Economics, 11(1), 48–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andreoni, J., & Sprenger, C. (2012). Risk preferences are not time preferences. American Economic Review, 102(7), 3357–3376.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, R. J., Li, J., & Lovenheim, M. F. (2012). Quantile treatment effects of college quality on earnings: Evidence from administrative data in Texas (NBER Working Paper No. 18068).

    Google Scholar 

  • Arcidiacono, P. (2004). Ability sorting and the returns to college major. Journal of Econometrics, 121(1–2), 343–375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Autor, D. H., Katz, L. F., & Kearney, M. S. (2008). Trends in U.S. wage inequality: Revising the revisionists. Review of Economics and Statistics, 90(2), 300–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avery, C., & Hoxby, C. M. (2004). Do and should financial aid packages affect students’ college choices? In C. M. Hoxby (Ed.), College choices: The economics of where to go, when to go, and how to pay for it. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Betts, J. R. (1996). What do students know about wages? Evidence from a survey of undergraduates. Journal of Human Resources, 31(1), 27–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Babcock, P., & Marks, M. (2011). The falling time cost of college: Evidence from half a century of time use data. Review of Economics and Statistics, 93(2), 468–478.

    Google Scholar 

  • Backes, B. (2012). Do affirmative action bans lower minority college enrollment and attainment? Evidence from statewide bans. Journal of Human Resources, 47(2), 436–455.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baird, K. (2006). Access to college: The role of tuition, financial aid, scholastic preparation and college supply in public college enrollments. NASFAA Journal of Student Financial Aid, 36(3), 16–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrow, L., & Rouse, C. E. (2005). Do returns to schooling differ by race and ethnicity? The American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 95(2), 83–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bean, J. P. (1980). Dropouts and turnover. The synthesis and test of a causal model of student attrition. Research in Higher Education, 12(2), 155–187.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, G. (1975). Human capital. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Behaghel, L., & Blau, D. M. (2012). Framing social security reform: Behavioral responses to changes in the full retirement age. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 4(4), 41–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, D., & Marclay, W. (1987). Trends in retirement eligibility and pension benefits, 1974–83. Monthly Labor Review, 110(4), 18–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Belley, P., & Lochner, L. (2007). The changing role of family income and ability in determining educational achievement. Journal of Human Capital, 1(1), 37–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bettinger, E., Long, B. T., Oreopoulos, P., & Sanbonmatsu, L. (2012). The role of application assistance and information in college decisions: Results from the H&R Block FAFSA experiment. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 127(3), 1205–1242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bifulco, R., Fletcher, J. M., & Ross, S. L. (2011). The effect of classmate characteristics on post-secondary outcomes: Evidence from the add health. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 3(1), 25–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Black, D. A., & Smith, J. A. (2004). How robust is the evidence on the effects of college quality? Evidence from matching. Journal of Econometrics, 121(1–2), 99–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Black, D. A., & Smith, J. A. (2006). Estimating the returns to college quality with multiple proxies for quality. Journal of Labor Economics, 24(3), 701–728.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blau, D. M., & Gilleskie, D. B. (2008). The role of retiree health insurance in the employment behavior of older men. International Economic Review, 49(2), 475–514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blau, D. M., & Goodstein, R. M. (2010). Can Social Security explain trends in labor force participation of older men in the United States? Journal of Human Resources, 45(2), 328–363.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bound, J., & Turner, S. (2002). Going to war and going to college: Did World War II and the G.I Bill increase educational attainment for returning veterans? Journal of Labor Economics, 20(4), 784–815.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bound, J., & Turner, S. (2007). Cohort crowding: How resources affect collegiate attainment. Journal of Public Economics, 91(5–6), 877–899.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bound, J., & Turner, S. (2011). Chapter 8: Dropouts and diplomas: The divergence in collegiate outcomes. In E. A. Hanushek, S. Machin, & L. Woessmann (Eds.), Handbook of the economics of education (Vol. 4). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bound, J., Lovenheim, M. F., & Turner, S. (2010a). Increasing time to baccalaureate degree in the United States (NBER Working Paper 15892).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bound, J., Lovenheim, M. F., & Turner, S. (2010b). Why have college completion rates declined? An analysis of changing student preparation and collegiate resources. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(2), 129–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bureau of the Census. (1975). Historical statistics of the United States: Colonial times to 1970, Part I. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=0YzOoHrvMPIC&pg=PA121&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

  • Bureau of the Census. (2012). The 2012 statistical abstract of the United States. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/. Accessed May 2013.

  • Cameron, S. V., & Heckman, J. J. (1998). Life cycle school and dynamic selection bias: Model and evidence for five cohorts of American males. Journal of Political Economy, 106(2), 262–333.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, S. V., & Heckman, J. J. (2001). The dynamics of educational attainment for Black, Hispanic, and White males. Journal of Political Economy, 109(3), 455–499.

    Google Scholar 

  • Card, D., & Lemieux, T. (2001). Going to college to avoid the draft: The unintended legacy of the Vietnam War. The American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 91(2), 97–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carneiro, P., & Heckman, J. J. (2002). The evidence on credit constraints in post-secondary schooling. The Economic Journal, 112(482), 705–734.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carneiro, P., & Lee, S. (2011). Trends in quality-adjusted skill premia in the United States, 1960–2000. American Economic Review, 101(6), 2309–2349.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castillo, M., Ferraro, P., Jordan, J., & Petrie, R. (2011). The today and tomorrow of kids: Time preferences and educational outcomes of children. Journal of Public Economics, 95(11–12), 1377–1385.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, D. (2011). Do recessions keep students in school? The impact of youth unemployment on enrolment in post-compulsory education in England. Economica, 78(311), 523–545.

    Google Scholar 

  • College Board. (2012). Trends in college pricing. Retrieved from trends.collegeboard.org. Accessed June 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cragg, K. M. (2009). Influencing the probability for graduation at four-year institutions: A multi-model analysis. Research in Higher Education, 50(4), 394–413.

    Google Scholar 

  • Croson, R., & Gneezy, U. (2009). Gender differences in preferences. Journal of Economic Literature, 47(2), 448–474.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dale, S. B., & Krueger, A. B. (2002). Estimating the payoff to attending a more selective college: An application of selection on observables and unobservables. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117(4), 1491–1527.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daun-Barnett, N. J. (2013). Access to college: A reconsideration of the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS). Educational Policy, 27(1), 3–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • DePaoli, B., & Zabczyk, P. (2012). Why do risk premia vary over time? A theoretical investigation under habit formation. Macroeconomics Dynamics, 16(Suppl. 2), 252–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • DesJardins, S. L., Ahlburg, D. A., & McCall, B. P. (1999). An event history model of student departure. Economics of Education Review, 18(3), 375–390.

    Google Scholar 

  • DesJardins, S. L., Ahlburg, D. A., & McCall, B. P. (2002). A temporal investigation of factors related to timely degree completion. Journal of Higher Education, 73(5), 555–582.

    Google Scholar 

  • DesJardins, S. L., Ahlburg, D. A., & McCall, B. P. (2006). An integrated model of application, admission, enrollment, and financial aid. Journal of Higher Education, 77(3), 381–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dohmen, T., Falk, A., Huffman, D., & Sunde, U. (2011a). The intergenerational transmission of risk and trust attitudes. Review of Economic Studies, 79(2), 645–677.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dohmen, T., Falk, A., Huffman, D., Sunde, U., Schupp, J., & Wagner, G. G. (2011b). Individual risk attitudes: Measurement, determinants, and behavioral consequences. Journal of the European Economic Association, 9(3), 522–550.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dougherty, C. (2005). Why are the returns to schooling higher for women than for men? Journal of Human Resources, 40(4), 969–988.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duggan, M., Singleton, P., & Song, J. (2007). Aching to retire? The rise in the full retirement age and its impact on the Social Security disability rolls. Journal of Public Economics, 91(7–8), 1327–1350.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dynarski, S. (2002). The behavioral and distributional implications of aid for college. The American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 92(2), 279–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dynarski, S. M. (2003). Does aid matter? Measuring the effect of student aid on college attendance and completion. The American Economic Review, 93(1), 279–288.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eckel, C. C., Grossman, P. J., Johnson, C. A., De Oliveira, A. C. M., Rojas, C., & Wilson, R. K. (2012). School environment and risk preferences: Experimental evidence. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 45(3), 265–292.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flores-Lagunes, A., & Light, A. (2010). Interpreting degree effects in the returns to education. Journal of Human Resources, 45(2), 439–467.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, G. (2006). It’s not your peers, and it’s not your friends: Some progress toward understanding the educational peer effect mechanism. Journal of Public Economics, 90(8–9), 1455–1475.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frenette, M. (2006). Too far to go on? Distance to school and university participation. Education Economics, 14(1), 31–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedberg, L., & Webb, A. (2005). Retirement and the evolution of pension structure. Journal of Human Resources, 40(2), 281–308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geel, R., & Backes-Gellner, U. (2011). Earning while learning: When and how student employment is beneficial. Labour, 26(3), 313–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldin, C. (1986). The female labor force and American economic growth, 1890–1980. In S. L. Engerman, & R. E. Gallman (Eds.), Long-term factors in American economic growth (pp. 557–604). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/chapters/c9688.pdf. Accessed May 2013.

  • Goldin, C., & Katz, L. F. (2007a). Long-run changes in the wage structure: Narrowing, widening, polarizing. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 2007a(2), 135–165.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldin, C., & Katz, L. F. (2007b). The race between education and technology: The evolution of U.S. educational wage differentials, 1890 to 2005 (NBER Working Paper No. 12984).

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldin, C., Katz, L. F., & Kuziemko, I. (2006). The homecoming of American college women: The reversal of the college gender gap. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(4), 133–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, J., Guner, N., Kocharkov, G., & Santos, C. (2012). Technology and the changing family: A unified model of marriage, divorce, educational attainment and married female labor-force participation (NBER Working Paper No. 17735).

    Google Scholar 

  • Guiso, L., Sapienza, P., & Zingales, L. (2011). Time varying risk aversion. Mimeo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanel, B., & Riphahn, R. T. (2012). The timing of retirement – New evidence from Swiss female workers. Labour Economics, 19(5), 718–728.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, G. W., Lau, M. I., & Williams, M. B. (2002). Estimating individual discount rates in Denmark: A field experiment. The American Economic Review, 92(5), 1606–1617.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haveman, R., & Wolfe, B. (1995). The determinants of children’s attainments: A review of methods and findings. Journal of Economic Literature, 33(4), 1829–1978.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinrichs, P. (2012). The effects of affirmative action bans on college enrollment, educational attainment, and the demographic composition of universities. Review of Economics and Statistics, 94(3), 712–722.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, B., & Schnabel, C. (2012). Women move differently: Job separations and gender. Journal of Labor Research, 33(4), 417–442.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoekstra, M. (2009). The effect of attending the flagship state university on earnings: A discontinuity-based approach. Review of Economics and Statistics, 91(4), 717–724.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horn, L., Cataldi, E. F., & Sikora, A. (2005). Waiting to attend college: Undergraduates who delay their postsecondary enrollment (NCES Report No. 2005–152).

    Google Scholar 

  • Horowitz, A. W., Lee, J., & Trivitt, J. R. (2009). Household‐level education borrowing constraints: Evidence using the college attendance of the sisters of Vietnam draft avoiders. Journal of Human Capital, 3(3), 197–223.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoxby, C. M. (2009). The changing selectivity of American colleges. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 23(4), 95–118.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoxby, C. M., & Avery, C. (2012). The missing “one-offs”: The hidden supply of high-achieving, low income students (NBER Working Paper No. 18586).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ishitani, T. T. (2003). A longitudinal approach to assessing attrition behavior among first-generation students: Time-varying effects of pre-college characteristics. Research in Higher Education, 44(4), 433–449.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaeger, D. A., & Page, M. E. (1996). Degrees matter: New evidence on sheepskin effects in the returns to education. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 78(4), 733–740.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jepsen, C., & Montgomery, M. (2012). Back to school: An application of human capital theory for mature workers. Economics of Education Review, 31(1), 168–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, I. (2008). Enrollment, persistence and graduation of in-state students at a public research university: Does high school matter. Research in Higher Education, 49(8), 776–793.

    Google Scholar 

  • Juhn, C., Kim, D. I., & Vella, F. (2005). The expansion of college education in the United States: Is there evidence of declining cohort quality? Economic Inquiry, 43(2), 303–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, L. B. (2010). The long-term labor market consequences of graduating from college in a bad economy. Labour Economics, 17(2), 303–316.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalenkoski, C. M., & Pabilonia, S. W. (2010). Parental transfers, student achievement, and the labor supply of college students. Journal of Population Economics, 23(2), 469–496.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kane, T. J. (1994). College entry by Blacks since 1970: The role of college costs, family background, and the returns to education. Journal of Political Economy, 102(5), 878–911.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, H., & DeVaney, S. A. (2005). The selection of partial or full retirement by older workers. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 26(3), 371–394.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Buckley, J. A., Bridges, B. K., & Hayek, J. C. (2006). What matters to student success: A review of the literature. Final report for the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative and National Center for Education Statistics. Bloomington: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Light, A., & Strayer, W. (2000). Determinants of college completion: School quality or student ability? The Journal of Human Resources, 35(2), 299–332.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lochner, L. J., & Monge-Naranjo, A. (2008). The nature of credit constraints and human capital (NBER Working Paper No. 13912).

    Google Scholar 

  • Long, B. T. (2004). How do financial aid policies affect colleges? The institutional impact of the Georgia HOPE Scholarship. Journal of Human Resources, 39(4), 1045–1066.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovenheim, M. F. (2011). The effect of liquid housing wealth on college enrollment. Journal of Labor Economics, 29(4), 741–771.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovenheim, M. F., & Owens, E. G. (2013). Does federal financial aid affect college enrollment? Evidence from drug offenders and the Higher Education Act of 1998 (NBER Working Paper No. 18749).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lovenheim, M. F., & Reynolds, C. L. (2013). The effect of housing wealth on college choice: Evidence from the housing boom. Journal of Human Resources, 48(1), 1–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lumina Foundation. (2013). Annual report. Retrieved from http://www.luminafoundation.org/publications/A_stronger_nation_through_higher_education-2013.pdf. Accessed 9 July 2013.

  • Lynch, L. M., & Black, S. E. (1998). Beyond the incidence of employer-provided training. Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 52(1), 64–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macunovich, D. J. (2012). Older men: Pushed into retirement in the 1970s and 1980s by the baby boomers? Monthly Labor Review, 135(5), 3–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Manchester, J., & Song, J. (2011). What can we learn from analyzing historical data on Social Security entitlements? Social Security Bulletin, 71(4), 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mare, R. D. (1991). Five decades of educational assortative mating. American Sociological Review, 56(1), 15–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mastrobuoni, G. (2009). Labor supply effects of the recent Social Security benefit cuts: Empirical estimates using cohort discontinuities. Journal of Public Economics, 93(11–12), 1224–1233.

    Google Scholar 

  • McPherson, M. S., & Schapiro, M. O. (1991). Does student aid affect college enrollment? New evidence on a persistent controversy. American Economic Review, 81(1), 309–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melguizo, T. (2008). Quality matters: Assessing the impact of attending more selective institutions on college completion rates of minorities. Research in Higher Education, 49(3), 214–236.

    Google Scholar 

  • Messer, D., & Wolter, S. C. (2010). Time-to-degree and the business cycle. Economics Education, 18(1), 111–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mincer, J. (1974). Schooling, experience, and earnings. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mincer, J. (1991). Education and unemployment (NBER Working Paper No. 3838).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mullis, I. V. S., Martin, M. O., Foy, P., & Drucker, K. T. (2012). PIRLS 2011 international results in reading. Chestnut Hill: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Boston College. Retrieved from http://timssandpirls.bc.edu/pirls2011/international-results-pirls.html. Accessed May 2013.

  • Munnell, A. H. (2011). What is the average retirement age? Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Issue in Brief 11–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). Digest of education statistics. Washington, DC: Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/2012menu_tables.asp. Accessed May 2013.

  • Neumark, D., Johnson, H., & Mejia, M. C. (2013). Future skill shortages in the U.S. Economy? Economics of Education Review, 32, 151–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2011). Education at a glance 2011: OECD indicators. OECD Publishing. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2011-en.

  • Oi, W. (1962). Labor as a quasi-fixed factor of production. Journal of Political Economy, 70(6), 538–555.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paulsen, M. B., & Toutkoushian, R. K. (2008). Economic models and policy analysis in higher education: A diagrammatic exposition. In J. C. Smart (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. 23, pp. 1–48). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pérez-Peña, R. (2012, October 24). Report says college prices, once stable, are up again. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/education/report-says-college-prices-once-stable-are-up-again.html. Accessed 31 May 2013.

  • Restuccia, D., & Vandenbroucke, G. (2013). A century of human capital and hours. Economic Inquiry, 51(3), 1849–1866.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riddell, W. C., & Song, X. (2011). The impact of education on unemployment incidence and re-employment success: Evidence from the U.S. labour market. Labour Economics, 18(4), 453–463.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross, C. E., Masters, R. K., & Hummer, R. A. (2012). Education and the gender gaps in health and mortality. Demography, 49(4), 1157–1183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sacerdote, B. (2001). Peer effects with random assignment: Results for Dartmouth roommates. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 116(2), 681–704.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott-Clayton, J. (2012). What explains trends in labor supply among U.S. undergraduates? National Tax Journal, 65(1), 181–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seneca, J. J., & Taussig, M. K. (1987). The effects of tuition and financial aid on the enrollment decision at a state university. Research in Higher Education, 26(4), 337–362.

    Google Scholar 

  • Singell, L. D., & Stone, J. A. (2007). For whom the Pell tolls: The response of university tuition to federal grants-in-aid. Economics of Education Review, 26(3), 285–295.

    Google Scholar 

  • St. John, E. P. (1990). Price response in enrollment decisions: An analysis of the high school and beyond sophomore cohort. Research in Higher Education, 31(2), 161–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • St. John, E. P. (1994). Assessing tuition and student aid strategies: Using price-response measures to simulate pricing alternatives. Research in Higher Education, 35(3), 301–334.

    Google Scholar 

  • St. John, E. P., & Starkey, J. B. (1995). An alternative to net price: Assessing the influence of prices and subsidies on within-year persistence. Journal of Higher Education, 66(3), 156–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Staubli, S., & Zweimueller, J. (2011). Does raising the retirement age increase employment of older workers? (IZA Discussion Paper No. 5863).

    Google Scholar 

  • Stinebrickner, T., & Stinebrickner, R. (2012). Learning about academic ability and the college dropout decision. Journal of Labor Economics, 30(4), 707–748.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stinebrickner, R., & Stinebrickner, T. R. (2013). A major in science? Initial beliefs and final outcomes for college major and dropout (NBER Working Paper No. 19165).

    Google Scholar 

  • Stratton, L. S., O’Toole, D. M., & Wetzel, J. N. (2008). A multinomial logit model of college attrition that distinguishes between stopout and dropout behavior. Economics of Education Review, 27(3), 319–331.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, S. L. (2000). Deferred costs and economic returns to college major, quality, and performance. Research in Higher Education, 41(3), 281–313.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 45(1), 89–125.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, S. E. (2004). Going to college and finishing college: Explaining different educational outcomes. In C. M. Hoxby (Ed.), College choices: The economics of where to go, when to go, and how to pay for it. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, N. (2012). Who benefits from student aid? The economic incidence of tax-based federal student aid. Economics of Education Review, 31(4), 463–481.

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2011, December). Women in the labor force: A databook (Report 1034).

    Google Scholar 

  • U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved from www.bls.gov. Accessed May–June 2013.

  • Venti, S. F., & Wise, D. A. (1982). Test scores, educational opportunities, and individual choice. Journal of Public Economics, 18(1), 35–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willis, R. J., & Rosen, S. (1979). Education and self-selection. Journal of Political Economy, 87(5), S7–S36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winters, J. V. (2012). Cohort crowding and nonresident college enrollment. Economics of Education Review, 31(3), 30–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolman, L. (1938). Hours of work in American industry. In L. Wolman (Ed.), Hours of work in American industry. NBER. Retrieved from http://www.nber.org/chapters/c4124. Accessed June 2013.

Download references

Acknowledgements

 I would like to thank Robert Andrews, Terry Ishitani, Christine Keller, and Sarah Turner for their comments on an earlier draft. Any errors or omissions are, of course, my own responsibility.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Virginia Commonwealth University, 301 W. Main Street, Richmond, VA, 23284-4000, USA

    Leslie S. Stratton

  2. Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Leslie S. Stratton

  3. Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn, Germany

    Leslie S. Stratton

Authors
  1. Leslie S. Stratton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leslie S. Stratton .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

    Michael B. Paulsen

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Stratton, L.S. (2014). College Enrollment: An Economic Analysis. In: Paulsen, M. (eds) Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research. Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, vol 29. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8005-6_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation