I conduct a series of analyses aimed at assessing equity in selective American colleges over a 20+ year time frame. My main measures of equity are enrollment and completion in selective colleges, which I disaggregate by race/ethnicity. After creating an institutional-level panel data set with variables on college revenues and expenses, tuition,…

The annual National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) Tuition Discounting Study (TDS) measures tuition discount rates and other indicators of institutional grant awards to undergraduates attending private nonprofit (independent) colleges and universities. The "2015 Tuition Discounting Study" report, based…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) continues to account for an expansive and expensive segment of education litigation. The most longstanding remedy under the IDEA is tuition reimbursement, interpreted broadly to include not only private school tuition, but also related transportation and stand-alone related services. Probably…

Today, institutions of higher education may charge whatever they wish for the education they provide, and the government provides the capital for student's tuition through loans without institutions bearing any meaningful risk if students do not repay. Naturally, this drives up costs and borrowing. On top of tuition and fees, students can borrow…

School vouchers are state-funded programs--often called scholarship programs--that allow students to use public monies to attend a private school. The state provides a set amount of money, typically based on the state's per-pupil amount, for private school tuition. There are currently 27 voucher programs in 16 states and the District of Columbia.…

School vouchers are state-funded programs--often called scholarship programs--that allow students to use public monies to attend a private school. The state provides a set amount of money, typically based on the state's per-pupil amount, for private school tuition. There are currently 27 voucher programs in 16 states and the District of Columbia.…

There is widespread concern in the policy community that colleges and universities are increasingly shifting their financial aid budgets to favor students from high-income families. Observers often argue that institutions of higher education are offering more merit aid to the most affluent students, leaving less aid for their low-income peers. To…

This study examines manufacturing employer perceptions of postsecondary credentials, the ways in which they find them valuable, and explores the barriers employers identify which prevent employees from enrolling in employer sponsored continuing education programs. In total, 14 staff members were interviewed representing five manufacturing…

The annual community college tuition and fees report provides information about tuition and fees charged at each of Iowa's 15 community colleges. This report also provides trends in tuition and fees among Iowa's community colleges, sources of general operating revenue, and comparisons among states and institutions. For fiscal year (FY) 2020,…

State funding for higher education has increased in recent years. Per student funding for the California Community Colleges (CCC) is at an historic high and the Cal Grant program is larger than ever. But the state's investment in its public universities remains far lower than in the past. Indeed, California invests less per student (adjusted for…

Community colleges have been under pressure for years to improve retention rates. Considering well-publicized reductions in state funding during and after the Great Recession, progress in this area is unexpected. And yet this is precisely what we find. Using the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), we find an average increase in…

With student loan debt reaching approximately $1.6 trillion, many are concerned that student loans may be the next financial bubble to burst. CARES Act funding and U.S. Department of Education actions led to historically low levels of delinquency in 2020-2021. However, there is concern that issues will balloon as soon as governmental action and…

This study analyzed the effect that shifts in the U.S. News & World Report rankings have on input variables such as admitting grade point average (GPA), percentage of students taking the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT), average incoming GMAT score, acceptance rate, tuition rates, average student debt, the proportion of students with…

This report provides comprehensive data about the tuition and fee prices published by public higher education institutions in the West for academic year 2022-23, including changes in tuition and fee rates over the past one-, five-, and 10-academic year periods. Tuition and fee rates in the region appear to have stabilized over the past decade…

This dissertation contains three essays discussing government policy in higher education, the effects of online social networks during college on students after graduating, and how to use search data as a tool to recover characteristics of both products and customers to estimate demand. In the first chapter, co-authored with Shengmao Cao, we study…