Frontier Knowledge in College and Student Success

Barbara Biasi and Song Ma

No 35269, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We study whether exposure to frontier knowledge in college affects student outcomes. Combining 459,415 syllabi from seven Texas public universities with 107 million publications and linked student records, we measure each course’s proximity to recent versus older research in its field. Exploiting syllabus updates unobserved at enrollment, we find that frontier exposure increases completion, GPA, graduate-school attendance, and earnings, and reduces time-to-degree. Completion, GPA, and progression gains are broad, while graduate-school and earnings returns are larger for students with stronger preparation and family resources. The evidence suggests two mechanisms: frontier content keeps students engaged, and sustained exposure builds labor-market skills.

JEL-codes: I23 I24 I26 J24 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05
Note: ED LS PE PR
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