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Is It Where You Go Or What You Study? The Relative Influence Of College Selectivity And College Major On Earnings

Author

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  • Eric R. Eide
  • Michael J. Hilmer
  • Mark H. Showalter

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="coep12115-abs-0001"> All college students must decide where to attend college and what major to study. We estimate how earnings by college major differ at different college selectivity types. We find major-specific earnings vary markedly by college selectivity, with the strongest differences among business majors and the weakest differences among science majors. We also find that when comparing earnings of graduates from top colleges to middle or bottom ranked colleges, the distribution of students across majors can be as important as earnings differences by major in accounting for college selectivity earnings gaps. (JEL I2, J3)

Suggested Citation

  • Eric R. Eide & Michael J. Hilmer & Mark H. Showalter, 2016. "Is It Where You Go Or What You Study? The Relative Influence Of College Selectivity And College Major On Earnings," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 34(1), pages 37-46, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:34:y:2016:i:1:p:37-46
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/coep.2016.34.issue-1
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Shimeng Liu & Weizeng Sun & John V. Winters, 2019. "Up In Stem, Down In Business: Changing College Major Decisions With The Great Recession," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(3), pages 476-491, July.
    2. Rajeev Darolia & Cory Koedel, 2018. "High Schools And Students' Initial Colleges And Majors," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(4), pages 692-710, October.
    3. William Brian Muse & Iryna Muse, 2024. "College Selectivity, Choice of Major, and Post-College Earnings," Journal of Economic Analysis, Anser Press, vol. 3(2), pages 33-51, June.
    4. BARONE, Adriana & NESE, Annamaria, 2017. "Investment in Education, Obesity and Health Behaviours," CELPE Discussion Papers 146, CELPE - CEnter for Labor and Political Economics, University of Salerno, Italy.
    5. Gregory Gilpin & Michael Kofoed, 2020. "Employer-Sponsored Education Assistance and Graduate Program Choice, Cost, and Finance," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 61(4), pages 431-458, June.
    6. Ege Aksu & Sidhya Balakrishnan & Eric Bettinger & Jonathan S. Hartley & Michael S. Kofoed & Dubravka Ritter & Douglas A. Webber, 2024. "Navigating Higher Education Insurance: An Experimental Study on Demand and Adverse Selection"," Working Papers 24-07, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    7. Lindsay Jarratt & Freda B. Lynn & Yongren Shi & Katharine M. Broton, 2024. "Up-or-Out Systems? Quantifying Path Flexibility in the Lived Curriculum of College Majors," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 65(6), pages 1185-1207, September.
    8. Mabel, Zachary & Libassi, C.J. & Hurwitz, Michael, 2020. "The value of using early-career earnings data in the College Scorecard to guide college choices," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    9. Deborah M. Weiss & Matthew L. Spitzer & Colton Cronin & Neil Chin, 2024. "Why college majors and selectivity matter: Major groupings, occupation specificity, and job skills," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 42(2), pages 278-304, April.
    10. Busso, Matias & Montaño, Sebastián & Muñoz-Morales, Juan S., 2024. "Unbundling Returns to Postsecondary Degrees and Skills: Evidence from Colombia," IZA Discussion Papers 17283, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Karly Sarita Ford, 2020. "Marrying Within the Alma Mater: Understanding the Role of Same-University Marriages in Educational Homogamy," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 25(2), pages 254-272, June.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs

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