Degrees of Growth: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Community College Baccalaureate Effects on County-Level Economies

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 11:45 am - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Place Based Innovations: A Regional Rocus on Education and Economic Devleopment

Abstract

Using nationwide county-level data (2001–2022), we estimate the economic effects of Community College Baccalaureate (CCB) adoption, a policy allowing two-year colleges to confer applied bachelor’s degrees. Leveraging staggered implementation across 143 CCB counties, we employ a difference-in-differences event-study design to estimate dynamic effects of CCB adoption on county-level outcomes. Results show CCB adoption increases adult bachelor’s attainment by 3.5 percent within five years and employment by 4–6 percent after a decade, with each additional program adding roughly 1 percent to both outcomes. Establishment growth remains imprecise. Negative long-horizon pre-trends caution interpretation, yet dynamic patterns align with human-capital spillover theory: local degree gains precede labour-market expansion, illustrating CCBs’ partial but meaningful contribution to place-based development.

Authors

• Jin-Kwon LEE, Korean Educational Development Institute

• Hannah Kim, Seoul National University

• Jeong Youn Lee, Seoul National University

• Bawool Hong, Korea University