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Author: Kane, Thomas J.
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. Kane, Thomas J.
College Cost, Borrowing Constraints and the Timing of College Entry
Eastern Economic Journal 22,2 (Spring 1996): 181-194.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/pss/40325703
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Journals
Keyword(s): College Education; Cost-Benefit Studies; Human Capital; Racial Differences; Savings; Tuition

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Many youth, for whom college may be a worthwhile investment, have insufficient collateral with which to secure a loan. Indeed, this is the purpose of the Guaranteed Student Loan program. However, borrowing under the GSL program (now called Stafford Loans) is subject to a maximum, which can be binding, particularly during the first 2 years at college. Unfortunately, the size and importance of these borrowing constraints, which fell in real value throughout much of the 1980s, remain untested. A simple model of human capital investment predicts that youth would enter college immediately after high school in the absence of borrowing constraints. In the presence of borrowing constraints, students may choose to work first and save for college. Therefore, as a test of the presence of borrowing constraints, the relationships between public tuition levels and age of college entry is evaluated using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the October Current Population Survey. The evidence suggests that borrowing constraints may bind, since delayed college entry is more common in high tuition states, particularly among blacks and low-income whites. Copyright Eastern Economic Association 1996. Fulltext online. Photocopy available from ABI/INFORM.
Bibliography Citation
Kane, Thomas J. "College Cost, Borrowing Constraints and the Timing of College Entry." Eastern Economic Journal 22,2 (Spring 1996): 181-194.
2. Kane, Thomas J.
Rising Public College Tuition and College Entry: How Well Do Public Subsidies Promote Access to College?
NBER Working Paper No. 5164, National Bureau of Economic Research, July 1995.
Also: http://papers.nber.org/papers/w5164
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): College Cost; College Enrollment; Cost-Benefit Studies; Educational Costs; Educational Returns; Schooling; Tuition

Though economists have spent the past decade analyzing the rising payoff to schooling, we know much less about the responses of youth or the effectiveness of policies aimed at influencing those decisions. States and the federal government currently spend more than $53 billion annually, hoping to promote greater access to college. This paper evaluates the price sensitivity of youth, using several sources of non-experimental variation in costs. The bulk of the evidence points to large enrollment impacts, particularly for low-income students and for those attending two-year colleges. The states have chosen to promote college enrollment by keeping tuition low through across-the-board subsidies rather than using more targeted, means-tested aid. As public enrollments increase, this has become an expensive strategy. Means-tested aid may be better targeted. However, the evidence of enrollment responses to such targeted aid is much weaker. After a federal means-tested grant program was established in 1973, there was no disproportionate increase in enrollment by low-income youth. Given the number of public dollars at stake, the two sets of results should be reconciled. This paper is available in PDF (1626 K) format: http://papers.nber.org/papers/W5164.pdf
Bibliography Citation
Kane, Thomas J. "Rising Public College Tuition and College Entry: How Well Do Public Subsidies Promote Access to College?" NBER Working Paper No. 5164, National Bureau of Economic Research, July 1995.
3. Kane, Thomas J.
Rouse, Cecilia Elena
Labor-Market Returns to Two- and Four-Year College
American Economic Review 85,3 (June 1995): 600-614.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2118190
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: American Economic Association
Keyword(s): College Characteristics; College Education; College Graduates; Education; National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS72); Schooling, Post-secondary; Wages

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Despite their importance as providers of post secondary education, little is known about the labor-market payoffs to a community-college education. An attempt is made to fill this gap by employing 2 different data sets that allow one to distinguish between 2-year and 4-year college attendance: 1. the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS-72) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Using the NLS- 72, it is found that the average person who attended a 2-year college earned about 10% more than those without any college education, even without completing an associate's degree. Further, contrary to widespread skepticism regarding the value of a community-college education, the estimated returns to a credit at a 2-year or 4-year college are both positive and remarkably similar: roughly 4%-6% for every 30 completed credits (2 semesters). Evidence is also found of the additional value of an associate's degree for women and a bachelor's degree for men. Photocopy available from ABI/INFORM.
Bibliography Citation
Kane, Thomas J. and Cecilia Elena Rouse. "Labor-Market Returns to Two- and Four-Year College." American Economic Review 85,3 (June 1995): 600-614.