Liberty for More: Finance and Educational Opportunities

Ross Levine () and Yona Rubinstein

No 19380, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Banking reforms--that reduced interest rates--boosted college enrollment rates among able students from middle class families. We define "able" students as those with learning aptitude scores in the top two-thirds of the U.S. population. We define "middle class" as families in which both parents are not highly-educated (above 12 years of education) and that are neither in the bottom fourth nor in the top 10 percent of the distribution family income in the U.S. Our findings suggest that credit conditions, the ability of an individual to benefit from college, and a family's financial and educational circumstances combine to shape college decisions. The functioning of the financial system plays a powerful role in shaping the degree to which a child's educational choices--and hence economic opportunities--are defined by parental income.

JEL-codes: G21 G28 G38 I21 I22 I24 J08 J24 O15 O16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-edu and nep-pke
Note: CF LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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