College on the Cheap: Costs and Benefits of Community College

• In Event: 63.018 - Promising Scholarship in Education: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research

Abstract

Community college students represent approximately 45 percent of all students enrolled
in higher education in the United States. However, relatively little is known about the price
sensitivity of community college attendance or the longrun
impacts of community college
enrollment on educational attainment. This paper examines the effects of community college
tuition on college enrollment using a natural experiment in Texas where discounts for
community college tuition were expanded over time and across geography. Additionally, the
longterm
effects of community college are examined including transfer to universities and
graduation with a bachelor's degree. To answer these questions, this paper uses Texas
administrative data from 19942012
on the universe of high school graduates and their college
enrollment and graduation.
For high school graduates, a $1,000 decrease in community college tuition increased
immediate transition to community college by 5.1 percentage points which translates to an own
price elasticity of .
29. Community college enrollment in the first year after high school
increased by a slightly larger 7.1 percentage points for a $1,000 decrease in tuition. Lower tuition
also increased enrollment in community college every year for six years after high school
graduation and increased transfer from community colleges to universities. Attending a
community college increased the probability of earning a bachelors degree within eight years of
high school graduation by 23 percentage points for students who would not have attended any
college in the absence of reduced tuition. Notably, community college attendance increased
bachelor's degree receipt even for students who initially diverted enrollment from universities to
community colleges.

Author

• Jeff Denning, The University of Texas - Austin