Effects of Elite College Attendance on Job Quality

• In Event: 513 - Section on Sociology of Education Paper Session. New Insights into the Returns of College

Abstract

Each year, students and their families invest considerable resources in an effort to attend America’s elite colleges and universities, under the assumption that they will enjoy substantial labor market returns. The literature on the economic benefits of attending an elite college has generally yielded mixed evidence, yet the most rigorous studies suggest little impact. Other properties of jobs that signal quality, such as job benefits, authority, and autonomy, however, have received less attention. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), we find that attending an elite college does increase the likelihood of having job authority, flexible hours, possibility for promotion, and on the job training or education. Attending an elite college decreases the likelihood of having a job that provides medical insurance, pension or retirement plans, and not having a boss. Moreover, the effect of attending an elite college generally does not decrease over the career, indicating that college selectivity remains salient even as workers gain more experience. We also find evidence of heterogeneity in the returns to elite college attendance. Those who had a low probability of attendance received smaller returns to job quality than those who did attend.

Authors

• Danielle Callendar, University of California-Los Angeles

• Jennie E. Brand, University of California-Los Angeles