Family and social networks are widely believed to influence important life decisions but identifying their causal effects is notoriously difficult. Using admissions thresholds that directly affect older but not younger siblings' college options, we present evidence from the United States, Chile, Sweden and Croatia that older siblings' college and…

In the competitive U.S. higher education market, institutions differentiate themselves to attract both students and tuition dollars. One understudied example of this differentiation is the increasing trend of "colleges" becoming "universities" by changing their names. Leveraging variation in the timing of such conversions in an…

In Kentucky and around the nation, the cost of college attendance has risen steadily over the past two decades, while total undergraduate enrollment has leveled off or declined. Kentucky has taken aggressive measures to limit tuition increases and increase state and institutional aid; nevertheless, increasing college costs may be constricting our…

The present volume presents new 2020 findings from the U.S. national Monitoring the Future (MTF) follow-up study concerning substance use among the nation's college students and adults from ages 19 through 60. This volume reports 2020 prevalence estimates on numerous illicit and licit substances, examines how substance use differs across this age…

Policy makers frequently use education as a welfare policy instrument. We examine one such case, where students from large and financially constrained families, were given the opportunity to be transferred to university departments in their hometown as part of the social policy of the Ministry of Education in Greece. Multiple law changes meant…

When do students start the college planning process? How many plan to take the SAT or ACT? How much do they value a college degree? RNL and Halda surveyed more than 2,200 high school students to answer these and many other key questions. Read our 32-page college planning report and discover a wealth of findings on: (1) when students start to…

Research from Complete College America has shown that the majority of students don't take enough credits to complete their degree on-time. While there are many factors that contribute to this, a student's ability to access the courses they need, when they need them plays a critical role in this discussion. Similarly, research has found that 65% of…

The "Annual Report on People with Disabilities in America" is a companion volume to the "2023 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium" (ED628628) and "Supplement" (ED628631). Indicators were in the following areas of interest: employment, educational attainment, health and health care, financial status and security,…

Higher education in the U.S. has undergone dramatic changes as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study uses responses to the Digital Learning Pulse Survey (DLPS) to examine one aspect of those changes -- how institutions deal with declining enrollments. The DLPS project began in the spring of 2020, it was designed to document the…

The present volume presents new 2019 findings from the U.S. national Monitoring the Future (MTF) follow-up study concerning substance use among the nation's college students and adults from ages 19 through 60. This report includes 2019 prevalence estimates on numerous illicit and licit substances, examines how substance use differs across this age…

Using the historical random assignment of MBA students to peer groups at a top business school in the United States, I study the effect of the gender composition of a student's peers on the gender pay gap at graduation and long-term labor market outcomes. I find that a 10 percentage point increase in the share of male peers leads to a 2.1 percent…

Conferred by businesses, industry groups, and state certifying entities, industry-recognized credentials (IRCs) are intended to signal that students have mastered specific workplace knowledge and skills. This first-of-its-kind study assesses the impact of specific IRCs earned in high school on various employment and postsecondary outcomes for…

These polls were conducted between March 12-27, 2022 among a national sample of 1,000 teens and between March 12-4, 2022 among a national sample of 1,030 high school parents. The interviews were conducted online and the data were weighted to approximate a target sample of Teens based on gender, age, race, and region and a target sample of High…

Reported hate crimes have increased rapidly in recent years, including on college campuses. Concurrently, general racial animus has increased in the United States. Scholars have shown that the larger sociopolitical environment can directly impact the campus climate and experiences of all students, particularly students of color. However, little is…

This volume presents new 2018 findings from the U.S. national Monitoring the Future (MTF) follow-up study concerning substance use among the nation's college students and adults from ages 19 through 60. The authors report 2018 prevalence estimates on numerous illicit and licit substances, examine how substance use differs across this age span, and…