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Higher Education and Local Educational Attainment: Evidence from the Establishment of U.S. Colleges

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Listed:
  • Lauren C. Russell

    (University of Pennsylvania)

  • Lei Yu

    (Unaffiliated)

  • Michael J. Andrews

    (University of Maryland Baltimore County)

Abstract

We investigate how the presence of a college affects local educational attainment. As counterfactuals for current college locations, we use historical “runner-up” locations that were strongly considered to become college sites but were ultimately not chosen. We find that winning counties today have college degree attainment rates 56% higher than runner-up counties and more private-sector employment in human-capital-intensive industries. These effects are not driven primarily by recent in-migration of educated adults, and alternative public investments did not have similar effects on local educational attainment. The results indicate that colleges played an important role in shaping long-run local outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Lauren C. Russell & Lei Yu & Michael J. Andrews, 2024. "Higher Education and Local Educational Attainment: Evidence from the Establishment of U.S. Colleges," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 106(4), pages 1146-1156, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:106:y:2024:i:4:p:1146-1156
    DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01214
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