Delayed Time to Degree and Postcollege Earnings

• In Event: 63.039 - Nuances in Pathways to Postcollege Labor Market Outcomes

Abstract

Increasingly, undergraduates take more than four years to complete a baccalaureate, a situation widely perceived as a waste of time and money, for students, their families, and taxpayers. Using nationally-representative data from the Baccalaureate & Beyond 1993-2003 surveys, we estimate the relationship between delayed time-to-degree and later employment and post-college earnings, using negative binomial hurdle models. We find that delayed time-to-degree is not related to employment chances but is associated with lower post-college earnings: averaging 8 to 15 percent, depending on the length of delay. However, delayed graduation when associated with working full-time during college has no negative relationship to post-college earnings.

Authors

• Dirk Witteveen, University of Oxford - Nuffield College

• Paul Attewell, City College of New York - CUNY