Heterogeneous Paths Through College: Detailed Patterns and Relationships with Graduation and Earnings / Rodney Andrews, Jing Li, Michael Lovenheim.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Andrews, Rodney.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Li, Jing.

Lovenheim, Michael.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w19935.

NBER working paper series no. w19935

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Heterogeneous Paths Through College

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2014.

Summary:

A considerable fraction of college students and bachelor's degree recipients enroll in multiple postsecondary institutions. Despite this fact, there is scant research that examines the nature of the paths - both the number and types of institutions - that students take to obtain a bachelor's degree or through the higher education system more generally. We also know little about enrollment in multiple institutions of varying quality relates to postgraduate life outcomes. We use a unique panel data set from Texas that allows us to both examine in detail the paths that students take towards a bachelor's degree and estimate how multiple institution enrollment is related to degree completion and subsequent earnings. We show that the paths to a bachelor's degree are diverse and that earnings and BA receipt vary systematically with these paths. Our results call attention to the importance of developing a more complete understanding of why students transfer and what causal role transferring has on the returns to postsecondary educational investment.

Notes:

Print version record

February 2014.