At what cost? Community college baccalaureates and institutional finance

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Abstract

At what cost? Community college baccalaureates and institutional finance

This study uses a generalized difference-in-difference approach to estimate the impact of the community college baccalaureate (CCB) on institutional finance. I leverage an institution-level panel data set spanning 19 academic years (1999/2000 to 2017/2018) constructed from publicly available data sources. Like prior research, I find no impact on overall revenue, but note marginal increases in spending. Yet, coupled with increased enrollment, per FTE revenue and spending decrease, on average, by approximately 12% and 8%, respectively. Adoption of an additional CCB is associated with a 2% to 3% decrease in revenue and spending per FTE, though these effects may diminish as the number of CCBs grow. These results suggest that community colleges should consider the tradeoffs in broadening access to baccalaureate-level education with the associated strain on resources. Policymakers should also consider how best to financially support adoptive institutions as they work to meet student and workforce needs, alike. Additional implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.

Author

• Jeremy Wright-Kim, Fairleigh Dickinson University