The Benefits of Alternatives to Conventional College

Abstract

This paper provides novel evidence on the labor-market returns to for-profit postsecondary school and community college attendance. We link administrative records on college attendance with quarterly earnings data for nearly 400,000 students in one state. Five years after enrollment, quarterly earnings conditional on employment exceed earnings in the absence of schooling by 20-29 percent for students attending for-profit schools and 16-27 percent for students attending community colleges. In aggregate, the benefits of attendance generally exceed the costs in both school types. Finally, the two types of schools vary dramatically in terms of student characteristics and fields of study.