PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Susan Dynarski
TI  - Building the Stock of College-Educated Labor
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.43.3.576
DP  - 2008 Jul 01
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 576--610
VI  - 43
IP  - 3
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/43/3/576.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/43/3/576.full
SO  - J Hum Resour2008 Jul 01; 43
AB  - Half of college students drop out without completing a degree. This paper establishes a causal link between college costs and degree completion. I use quasi-experimental methodology to analyze two state scholarship programs. The programs increase the share of the exposed population with a college degree by three percentage points, with stronger effects among women. A cost-benefit analysis indicates that the programs are socially efficient at rates of return to schooling as low as 5 percent. Even with the offer of free tuition, many students continue to drop out, suggesting tuition costs are not the only impediment to college completion.