Grade inflation over the past few decades has been a concern for many universities. Course evaluation scores are known to be positively correlated with students' expected grades, and this paper tests whether or not there is an incentive for the instructor to "buy" higher evaluation scores by inflating grades. To test this hypothesis, I use unique…

Several German states recently introduced tuition fees for university education. We investigate whether these tuition fees influence the mobility of university applicants. Based on administrative data of applicants for medical schools in Germany, we estimate the effect of tuition fees on the probability of applying for a university in the home…

This paper challenges Hanushek and Woessmann's (2008) contention that the quality and not the quantity of schooling determines a nation's rate of economic growth. I first show that their statistical analysis is flawed. I then show that when a nation's average test scores and average schooling attainment are included in a national income model,…

In this article, we examine the effect of incorporating the fields of study on the explained and unexplained components of the standard Oaxaca decomposition for the gender wage gaps in Taiwan using 1997-2003 Manpower Utilization Survey data. Using several existing and lately developed measures, we inspect the gender wage gap by college major to…

Graduation rates for male athletes overall as well as men's football and basketball players lag behind those of male non-athletes at Division I colleges and universities. Scholarship athletes, however, are much more likely to be drawn from racial and ethnic groups with lower average graduation rates. After accounting for differences in racial…

Until 1975 around half of all graduates from Dutch basic vocational schools finished a 3-year program, the other half finished a 4-year program. In 1975 all 3-year programs were extended to four years. This was accompanied by an increase of the compulsory school leaving age with one year. The authors evaluate the long-term wage effects of this…

Examines the effects of minimum wage on schooling, seeking to reconcile some of the contradictory results in recent research using Current Population Survey data from the late 1970s through the 1980s. Findings point to negative effects of minimum wages on school enrollment, bolstering the findings of negative effects of minimum wages on enrollment…

Examines labor-market value of the General Educational Development (GED) credential for females. Finds that among females who dropped out of high school with weak basic math skills, those with a GED have accumulated more work experience and have higher labor-market earning in their mid-20s than have observationally similar dropouts lacking the GED…

Evaluates the impact of Uganda's program of "Universal Primary Education," which, starting from 1997, dispensed with fees for primary enrollment. Finds, for example, that while the program was associated with a dramatic increase in primary school attendance and that inequalities in attendance related to gender, income, and region were…

Examines patterns of alumni giving, using data on two cohorts of former students from a sample of private colleges and universities. Higher levels of contributions are associated with high income, whether or not the person graduated from the institution where he or she first attended college, and the degree of satisfaction with his or her…

Examines individual characteristics correlated with alumni giving by graduates from 28 highly selective institutions of higher education. Finds satisfaction with undergraduate experience the single biggest determinant of the generosity of alumni donations. (Contains 11 references.) (PKP)

Reports estimates of peer effects on student achievement, using a 1997 census of eighth-grade achievement in Chile. The data allow detailed measures of peer characteristics to be constructed for each classroom within a school. Estimates suggest that the classroom mean of mothers' education is an important determinant of individual achievement,…

Analyzes Ph.D. education procedures for economics in The Netherlands. Finds that universities are successful in persuading students to quit who are unlikely to graduate or to graduate in a timely manner. Also finds that active researchers who supervise doctoral candidates have low dropout and high graduation rates, because they attract good…

Investigates the effect of parents' mental illness on the schooling of their children. Finds that parents' mental illnesses increase the probability of high school dropout of children, though these effects differ markedly with disease. Also finds that parental mental illness has more consistently negative effects on girls than on boys. (Contains…

Analysis of earnings differences by major field of study of three cohorts of graduates (1982, 1986, 1990) with bachelors' degrees from Canadian postsecondary institutions. Finds that earnings differences are large and statistically significant. The patterns are relatively consistent for the three cohorts and for male and female graduates, 2 and 5…