IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aejapp/v2y2010i1p116-48.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Changing Consequences of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Author

Listed:
  • Roland G. Fryer
  • Michael Greenstone

Abstract

Using nationally representative data files from 1970s and 1990s college attendees, we find that in the 1970s matriculation at historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) was associated with higher wages and an increased probability of graduation, relative to attending a traditionally white institution. By the 1990s, there is a wage penalty resulting in a 20 percent decline in the relative wages of HBCU graduates between the two decades. There is modest support for the possibility that the relative decline in wages associated with HBCU matriculation is partially due to improvements in TWIs' effectiveness at educating blacks. (JEL I23, J15, J24, J31)

Suggested Citation

  • Roland G. Fryer & Michael Greenstone, 2010. "The Changing Consequences of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 116-148, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:2:y:2010:i:1:p:116-48
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.2.1.116
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/app.2.1.116
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/data/2007-0085_data.zip
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/aej/app/app/2007-0085_app.pdf
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stacy Berg Dale & Alan B. Krueger, 2002. "Estimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College: An Application of Selection on Observables and Unobservables," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(4), pages 1491-1527.
    2. Angrist, Joshua D & Lavy, Victor, 2001. "Does Teacher Training Affect Pupil Learning? Evidence from Matched Comparisons in Jerusalem Public Schools," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(2), pages 343-369, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Słoczyński, Tymon, 2012. "New Evidence on Linear Regression and Treatment Effect Heterogeneity," MPRA Paper 39524, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Peter Hinrichs, 2024. "An Empirical Analysis of Racial Segregation in Higher Education," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 19(2), pages 218-251, Spring.
    3. Jack Mountjoy & Brent Hickman, 2020. "The Returns to College(s): Estimating Value-Added and Match Effects in Higher Education," Working Papers 2020-08, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    4. Stacy Dale & Alan B. Krueger, "undated". "Estimating the Return to College Selectivity Over the Career Using Administrative Earning Data," Mathematica Policy Research Reports d76ec29a0bbb4b1bb9d285b5a, Mathematica Policy Research.
    5. repec:mpr:mprres:6922 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Stacy B. Dale & Alan B. Krueger, 2014. "Estimating the Effects of College Characteristics over the Career Using Administrative Earnings Data," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(2), pages 323-358.
    7. Charles T. Clotfelter & Helen F. Ladd & Jacob L. Vigdor, 2015. "Public Universities, Equal Opportunity, and the Legacy of Jim Crow: Evidence from North Carolina," NBER Working Papers 21577, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Ethan K. Gordon & Zackary B. Hawley & Ryan Carrasco Kobler & Jonathan C. Rork, 2021. "The Paradox of HBCU Graduation Rates," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 62(3), pages 332-358, May.
    9. Dougal, Casey & Gao, Pengjie & Mayew, William J. & Parsons, Christopher A., 2019. "What’s in a (school) name? Racial discrimination in higher education bond markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(3), pages 570-590.
    10. Ortega, Alberto, 2020. "State partisanship and higher education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Catherine J. Weinberger, 2018. "Engineering Educational Opportunity: Impacts of 1970s and 1980s Policies to Increase the Share of Black College Graduates with a Major in Engineering or Computer Science," NBER Chapters, in: US Engineering in a Global Economy, pages 87-128, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Alston, Mackenzie & Darity, William A. & Eckel, Catherine C. & McNeil, Lawrence & Sharpe, Rhonda, 2022. "The effect of stereotypes on black college test scores at a historically black university," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 408-424.
    13. repec:pri:indrel:dsp01gf06g265z is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Toby J. Park & Stella M. Flores & Christopher J. Ryan, 2018. "Labor Market Returns for Graduates of Hispanic-Serving Institutions," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(1), pages 29-53, February.
    15. Gregory Price & William Spriggs & Omari Swinton, 2011. "The Relative Returns to Graduating from a Historically Black College/University: Propensity Score Matching Estimates from the National Survey of Black Americans," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 38(2), pages 103-130, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Roland G. Fryer & Michael Greenstone, 2007. "The Causes and Consequences of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities," NBER Working Papers 13036, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Murphy, Richard & Weinhardt, Felix & Wyness, Gill, 2021. "Who teaches the teachers? A RCT of peer-to-peer observation and feedback in 181 schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    3. Veronica Minaya & Judith Scott-Clayton, 2018. "Labor Market Outcomes and Postsecondary Accountability: Are Imperfect Metrics Better Than None?," NBER Chapters, in: Productivity in Higher Education, pages 67-104, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Lang, Kevin & Siniver, Erez, 2011. "Why is an elite undergraduate education valuable? Evidence from Israel," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 767-777.
    5. Nakabayashi, Masaki, 2011. "Schooling, employer learning, and internal labor market effect: Wage dynamics and human capital investment in the Japanese steel industry, 1930-1960s," MPRA Paper 30597, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2017. "Undergraduate Econometrics Instruction: Through Our Classes, Darkly," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 125-144, Spring.
    7. Cunha, Jesse M. & Miller, Trey, 2014. "Measuring value-added in higher education: Possibilities and limitations in the use of administrative data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 64-77.
    8. Cory Koedel, 2009. "Postsecondary Education Structure," Working Papers 0906, Department of Economics, University of Missouri, revised 04 Oct 2010.
    9. Ralf Becker & Maggy Fostier, 2015. "Evaluating non-compulsory educational interventions - the case of peer assisted study groups," Economics Discussion Paper Series 1509, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    10. Alan B. Krueger, 2002. "Inequality, Too Much of a Good Thing," Working Papers 845, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    11. Bratti, Massimiliano, 2002. "Does the choice of university matter?: a study of the differences across UK universities in life sciences students' degree performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 431-443, October.
    12. Arnaud Chevalier & Colm Harmon & Ian Walker & Yu Zhu, 2004. "Does Education Raise Productivity, or Just Reflect it?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(499), pages 499-517, November.
    13. Rafael Matta & Rafael P. Ribas & Breno Sampaio & Gustavo R. Sampaio, 2016. "The effect of age at school entry on college admission and earnings: a regression-discontinuity approach," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-25, December.
    14. Tucker, Luc, 2013. "Parliamentary Questions and the Probability of Reelection in the UK House of Commons," Economic Research Papers 270436, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    15. Bottan, Nicholas & Bernhardt, Dan, 2024. "Small Fish in a Big Pool : The Discouraging Effects of Relative Assessment," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1511, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    16. Sandra E. Black & Jeffrey T. Denning & Jesse Rothstein, 2023. "Winners and Losers? The Effect of Gaining and Losing Access to Selective Colleges on Education and Labor Market Outcomes," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 26-67, January.
    17. Pascal Bressoux & Francis Kramarz & Corinne Prost, 2009. "Teachers’ Training, Class Size and Students’ Outcomes: Learning from Administrative Forecasting Mistakes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(536), pages 540-561, March.
    18. Lisa J. Dettling & Sarena Goodman & Jonathan Smith, 2018. "Every Little Bit Counts: The Impact of High-Speed Internet on the Transition to College," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(2), pages 260-273, May.
    19. TANAKA Mari & NARITA Yusuke & MORIGUCHI Chiaki, 2020. "Meritocracy and Its Discontent: Long-run Effects of Repeated School Admission Reforms," Discussion papers 20002, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    20. Li, Hongbin & Liu, Pak Wai & Zhang, Junsen, 2012. "Estimating returns to education using twins in urban China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 494-504.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

    Lists

    This item is featured on the following reading lists, Wikipedia, or ReplicationWiki pages:
    1. The Changing Consequences of Attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2010) in ReplicationWiki

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:2:y:2010:i:1:p:116-48. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.