Degrees of Mobility: Shifting Low-Income Students to Higher Quality Colleges

Elizabeth Burland, Nora Delaney, Susan Dynarski, Katherine B. Leu, Libassi Cj, Katherine Michelmore, Stephanie Owen, Mary A. Quiroga and Elizabeth Salinas

No 35434, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Earnings inequality among college graduates has grown, and returns to a bachelor's degree (BA) vary substantially across colleges. We experimentally evaluate a program that shifted high-achieving, low-income students into higher-quality colleges. Students randomly offered a guarantee of four years of tuition and fees at the University of Michigan were 21 percentage points more likely to enroll at a UM campus. The offer shifted students across colleges rather than into college: most compliers would otherwise have attended less-selective four-year colleges. HAIL increased four-year BA completion by 4 percentage points, but had no effect on attainment after six years. It substantially increased degree quality: students offered the scholarship were 12 percentage points more likely to earn a bachelor's degree from a highly or most selective college. IV estimates indicate that students induced to attend a University of Michigan campus were 56 percentage points more likely to earn such a degree. The increase in college quality predicts earnings gains of 18 to 25 percent. Faster degree completion adds about another 1 percent to the present discounted value of lifetime earnings.

JEL-codes: D31 I22 I23 I24 I26 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-07
Note: CH ED LS PE
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.nber.org/papers/w35434.pdf (application/pdf)
Access to the full text is generally limited to series subscribers, however if the top level domain of the client browser is in a developing country or transition economy free access is provided. More information about subscriptions and free access is available at http://www.nber.org/wwphelp.html. Free access is also available to older working papers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35434

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.nber.org/papers/w35434
The price is Paper copy available by mail.

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().