IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/uwp/jhriss/v38y2003i1p134-155.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do the Returns to Community Colleges Differ between Academic and Vocational Programs?

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew M. Gill
  • Duane E. Leigh

Abstract

This paper provides new evidence about the payoffs to community colleges’ terminal training programs as distinct from their traditional transfer function. Using NLSY data, we offer three main findings. First, fouryear college graduates who started at a community college are not at a substantial earnings disadvantage relative to those who started at a fouryear college. Second, community college students in terminal training programs enjoy a positive payoff comparable to that received by four-year college starters who do not graduate. Finally, we find evidence of positive self-selection for community college students who choose the terminal training track.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew M. Gill & Duane E. Leigh, 2003. "Do the Returns to Community Colleges Differ between Academic and Vocational Programs?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 38(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:38:y:2003:i:1:p134-155
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://jhr.uwpress.org/cgi/reprint/XXXVIII/1/134
    Download Restriction: A subscripton is required to access pdf files. Pay per article is available.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Duane E. Leigh & Andrew M. Gill, 1997. "Labor Market Returns to Community Colleges: Evidence for Returning Adults," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 32(2), pages 334-353.
    2. Light, Audrey, 2001. "In-School Work Experience and the Returns to Schooling," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 65-93, January.
    3. Kane, Thomas J & Rouse, Cecilia Elena, 1995. "Labor-Market Returns to Two- and Four-Year College," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 600-614, June.
    4. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    5. Trost, Robert P & Lee, Lung-Fei, 1984. "Technical Training and Earnings: A Polychotomous Choice Model with Selectivity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 66(1), pages 151-156, February.
    6. Lee, Lung-Fei, 1983. "Generalized Econometric Models with Selectivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 51(2), pages 507-512, March.
    7. Gyourko, Joseph & Tracy, Joseph, 1988. "An Analysis of Public- and Private-Sector Wages Allowing for Endogenous Choices of Both Government and Union Status," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(2), pages 229-253, April.
    8. Paul Osterman & Rosemary Batt, 1993. "Employer-centered training for international competitiveness: Lessons from state programs," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(3), pages 456-477.
    9. Rouse, Cecilia Elena, 1995. "Democratization or Diversion? The Effect of Community Colleges on Educational Attainment," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 13(2), pages 217-224, 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. Murphy, Patrick & Neiman, Max & Hasbrouck, Jelena, 2012. "Exploring Candidates, Elections, Campaigns, And Expenditures In California Community College Districts, 2004-2010," University of California at Berkeley, Center for Studies in Higher Education qt02w273pc, Center for Studies in Higher Education, UC Berkeley.
    2. Brad J. Hershbein, 2013. "Worker Signals among New College Graduates: The Role of Selectivity and GPA," Upjohn Working Papers 13-190, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    3. Leigh, Duane E. & Gill, Andrew M., 2004. "The effect of community colleges on changing students' educational aspirations," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 95-102, February.
    4. Lockwood Reynolds, C., 2012. "Where to attend? Estimating the effects of beginning college at a two-year institution," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 345-362.
    5. Nicholas A. Bowman & Gregory C. Wolniak & Tricia A. Seifert & Kathleen Wise & Charles Blaich, 2023. "The Long-Term Role of Undergraduate Experiences: Predicting Intellectual and Civic Outcomes," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 64(3), pages 379-401, May.
    6. Celeste K. Carruthers & Thomas Sanford, 2015. "Way Station or Launching Pad? Unpacking the Returns to Postsecondary Adult Education," Working Papers 2015-02, University of Tennessee, Department of Economics.
    7. Carruthers, Celeste K. & Sanford, Thomas, 2018. "Way station or launching pad? Unpacking the returns to adult technical education," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 146-159.

    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. Surette, Brian J., 2001. "Transfer from two-year to four-year college: an analysis of gender differences," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 151-163, April.
    2. Hui, Taylor Shek-wai, 2004. "The US/Canada Difference in Postsecondary Educational Choice," MPRA Paper 17995, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Altin Vejsiu, 2011. "Incentives to self-employment decision in Sweden," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 379-403.
    4. Ehrenberg, R.G.Ronald G., 2004. "Econometric studies of higher education," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 19-37.
    5. Jairo Guillermo Isaza Castro, 2014. "Occupational segregation, selection effects and gender wage differences: evidence from urban Colombia," Apuntes del Cenes, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia, June.
    6. Lockwood Reynolds, C., 2012. "Where to attend? Estimating the effects of beginning college at a two-year institution," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 345-362.
    7. Grubb, W. Norton, 2002. "Learning and earning in the middle, part I: national studies of pre-baccalaureate education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 299-321, August.
    8. Jacopo Mazza, 2012. "Does Risk Matter? A Semi-parametric Model for Educational Choices in the Presence of Uncertainty," Economics Discussion Paper Series 1225, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    9. Tansel, Avsit, 2005. "Public-Private Employment Choice, Wage Differentials, and Gender in Turkey," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(2), pages 453-477, January.
    10. Darwin Miller, 2007. "Isolating the Causal Impact of Community College Enrollment on Educational Attainment and Labor Market Outcomes in Texas," Discussion Papers 06-033, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
    11. Susan Averett & Sharon Dalessandro, 2001. "Racial and Gender Differences in the Returns to 2-Year and 4-Year Degrees," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 281-292.
    12. Hilmer, Michael J., 2001. "A comparison of alternative specifications of the college attendance equation with an extension to two-stage selectivity-correction models," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 263-278, June.
    13. Leigh, D. E. & Gill, A. M., 2003. "Do community colleges really divert students from earning bachelor's degrees?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 23-30, February.
    14. Ehrenberg, Ronald G. & Smith, Christopher L., 2004. "Analyzing the success of student transitions from 2- to 4-year institutions within a state," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 11-28, February.
    15. Molitor, Christopher J. & Leigh, Duane E., 2005. "In-school work experience and the returns to two-year and four-year colleges," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 459-468, August.
    16. Asma Hyder & Barry Reilly, 2005. "The Public and Private Sector Pay Gap in Pakistan: A Quantile Regression Analysis," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 44(3), pages 271-306.
    17. Christopher Ksoll, 2007. "Family Networks and Orphan Caretaking in Tanzania," Economics Series Working Papers 361, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    18. Stenberg, Anders & Westerlund, Olle, 2016. "Flexibility at a cost – Should governments stimulate tertiary education for adults?," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 7(C), pages 69-86.
    19. Woo, C.K. & Zarnikau, J. & Moore, J. & Horowitz, I., 2011. "Wind generation and zonal-market price divergence: Evidence from Texas," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 3928-3938, July.
    20. Timothy Park & Ashok K. Mishra & Shawn J. Wozniak, 2014. "Do farm operators benefit from direct to consumer marketing strategies?," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 45(2), pages 213-224, March.

    More about this item

    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:uwp:jhriss:v:38:y:2003:i:1:p134-155. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://jhr.uwpress.org/ .

    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.