The nation's most selective colleges are often the centerpiece of the discussion surrounding college choice, and trends in college selectivity are relayed through stories of plunging admission rates at a few high-profile postsecondary institutions and anecdotes of model high school students unable to secure seats at these colleges. Such stories…

At present, one of the major issues and most interesting discussions within the European Higher Education Area is the rate of success in university-level study, and therefore the adaptation of today's university education system to society's requirements. Moreover, we have seen significant growth in distance education throughout recent decades, as…

The low number of college graduates with science degrees--particularly among underrepresented minorities--is of growing concern. We examine differences across universities in graduating students in different fields. Using student-level data on the University of California system during a period in which racial preferences were in place, we show…

There is growing interest in leveraging Title IV student aid to improve college completion. Advocates have proposed linking funding in the Pell and Campus-Based Programs to measures of college performance. However, to do so in an equitable and efficient manner, raw measures of college output, such as rates of graduation and academic progress, must…

The Census Bureau has historically grouped high school diploma holders along with those who hold "high school equivalent" credentials. Among these is the credential earned through successfully passing the General Education Development (GED) test. Interest in identifying those with GEDs has recently increased, in part from debate within…

From 2000 to 2008, enrollments by recent high school graduates grew faster than enrollments by adults age 25 and older (25.3 percent v. 23.6 percent). Between 2009 and 2019, this trend is expected to reverse, with adult enrollments increasing by twice as much as enrollments by traditional age students (22.6 percent vs. 9.7 percent). This paper…

It is widely accepted that postsecondary education has become a necessity for US youth. College access, however, has been found not to be equal for all. As a result, federally funded college-readiness programs, such as Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), have been established to increase the numbers of…

This dissertation consists of three essays on education and macroeconomics. The first chapter analyzes whether public education financing systems can account for large differences among developed countries in earnings inequality and intergenerational earnings persistence. I first document facts about public education in the U.S. and Norway, which…

The relationship between educational attainment and economic outcomes is shaped by a variety of educational experiences, including field of training, length of time spent in school, and level of attainment. This report explores the relationship between educational attainment, field of training, and eventual occupation and earnings. The report also…

This study had two primary objectives. First, this study sought to create a classification system to which publicly-controlled Carnegie classified Master's Colleges and Universities could be grouped according to geographical service (rural-serving, suburban-serving, or urban-serving. Second, once the classification system was developed and…