This dissertation takes an in-depth look at the pathways to higher education in the U.S., focusing on two key facets: college choice behavior of high school graduates, and internal migration patterns of young educated adults in the U.S. (high school graduates and college graduates). This dissertation should be of great interest to higher education and migration scholars since it contributes to the literature on the determinants of mobility, especially at the top of the distribution of skills. In addition, this dissertation helps identify the factors that are amenable to policy influence by state legislators and university officials in order to target their desired student population. In Chapter 2, I empirically examine the role of academic ability and other factors in influencing a high school graduate’s decision to attend college in-state or out-of-state. I find that higher academic ability students as well as high school graduates who plan to major in engineering/computer science are more likely to leave their home states to attend out-of-state colleges. Thus, states which are net exporters of high school graduates for college are likely to pay a price down the road in terms of a smaller engineering and computer science labor force. Further, these states are experiencing a brain-drain since they tend to lose their best and brightest homegrown college-bound students to other states. I also find that an increase in state financial aid, especially need-based grant aid, and a reduction in the price of attending an in-state public college are policy levers available to state legislators for successfully recruiting high school graduates to attend college in their home states. In Chapter 3, I examine the impact of out-of-state college attendance in the U.S. and immigrant status on the probability of out-migrating from the college state after graduation. I find that out-of-state college attendance is positively associated with out-migration after graduation. Also, contrary to popular belief, foreign-born graduates are not more likely to move out of their college state after graduation, as compared to the U.S. born. A detailed analysis reveals that graduate school attendance is the main cause for the ‘sticky’ behavior of foreign-born graduates. In Chapter 4, I examine differences in selectivity of college attended by family income, and determine how these gaps vary across the student ability distribution and over time. I find that family income has a significant positive impact on the selectivity of college attended. However, conditioning on factors like ability (measured by standardized test scores), the positive income effect is diminished. A look across the joint income-ability distribution reveals that while low ability students are mainly constrained along the extensive margin, high ability-low income students are constrained on the quality margin. Further, I find that, for high ability students, the effect of family income has declined over time.
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Economics
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
College attendance--United States
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
College choice--United States
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_5956
PhysicalDescription
Form (authority = gmd)
electronic resource
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (x, 171 p. : ill.)
Note (type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note (type = statement of responsibility)
by Ritu Sapra
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = local)
rucore19991600001
Location
PhysicalLocation (authority = marcorg); (displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
AssociatedObject
Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.