HOW COLLEGE AFFECTS STUDENTS

347 Pages·2003·5.32 MB·English

HOW COLLEGE AFFECTS STUDENTS: TOWARD THE RECONCILIATION
OF THEORY WITH EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

by

Liang Zhang

–––––––––––––––––
Copyright © Liang Zhang 2003

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the

CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF HIGHER EDUCATION

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

In the Graduate College

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

2 0 0 3
2

Substitute this page with approval page
3

STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an
advanced degree at the University of Arizona and it deposited in the University Library to
be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library.

Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission,
provided that accurate acknowledgement of source is made. Requests for permission for
extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be
granted by the copyright holder.

SIGNED: __________________________
4

This research was supported by a grant from the American Educational Research
Association which receives funds for its “AERA Grants Program” from the National
Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for
Education Statistics of the Institute of Education Sciences under NSF Grant #REC-
9980573. Opinions reflect those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the
granting agencies.
5

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In past four and half years, with extraordinary support and help of many people, I
made a pleasant journey toward this dissertation. I owed my deepest debts—intellectual,
spiritual, and otherwise—to each one of them.
To Professor Gary Rhoades, who admitted me into the higher education program
and offered me a fellowship in May of 1999. He encouraged me to move into the field of
economics of education, yet he always reminded me that economics was the “worst” way
to evaluate education.
To Professor Scott Thomas, who arrived at the University of Arizona in August of
1999, from then on we have been engaged in an ongoing conversation both as professor
to student and as friends. A good sample of his influence is some collaborative work in
this dissertation.
To Professor Larry Leslie, who hired me as a research assistant in my second-year
study at the University and who chaired my committee since then. Without him, I would
have lost my way long ago. He has modeled for me the highest standard of scholarly
production and encouraged me that “the best predictor of success is commitment.” I hope
this dissertation is qualified as an illustration of my commitment. To him, I offer the best
of my thanks and wishes.
To Professor Sheila Slaughter, who showed me the elegance of social theories and
qualitative work and by doing so who has influenced my work and life in profound ways.
From time to time when I got lost in my economic rationality, I turned to social theories
for answer and guidance.
To Professor Ronald Oaxaca, who taught me the rudiments of econometric
analysis. He set up the highest standard of teaching, research, and public services in a
public research university. Simply put, he was the type of professor that all graduate
students yearned for.
To Professor Ronald Ehrenberg, last but not least, who provided me with the best
possible intellectual and financial resources through my research assistantship with him
in last two and half years at Cornell. He was an enjoyable economist; told me to enjoy
life because “life is unpredictable.”
In producing this dissertation, I am especially grateful to my committee chair,
Professor Larry Leslie, for his tireless reading and commenting. Special thanks also go to
my committee members, Professors Scott Thomas and Ronald Oaxaca, for their input and
support.
People learn much of what they know from talking to each other. For that, I thank
my fellows and friends in Arizona and at Cornell.
6
TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ………………………………………..………….………..………8
ABSTRACT ………………………..…………………………………..…..………….13
1. INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………….………..……….. 14
2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ……….…….... 25
3. WHO COMPLETES AT HIGH-QUALITY COLLEGES? ….………….………… 50
3.1 Perspective …………………………………………………………….………... 50
3.2 Analysis ……………………………………………………………….…………53
3.3 Chapter Summary ……………………………………………………….……… 72
4. VARIABILITY IN THE ECONOMIC EFFECT OF COLLEGE QUALITY …..…75
4.1 The Baseline Model ………………………………………………….…………. 76
4.2 Some Issues in the Baseline Model ………………………………….…………. 88
4.3 Variability in the Economic Effect of College Quality ………………….………97
4.4 Chapter Summary ……………………………………………………….……… 123
5. COLLEGE QUALITY AND EARNINGS DISTRIBUTION …………….……..…127
5.1 Perspective ……………………………………………………………….……... 127
5.2 Analysis ………………………………………………………………….………129
5.3 Chapter Summary ………………………………………………………….…… 135
6. COLLEGE QUALITY AND GRADUATE EDUCATION ……………….….…....137
6.1 Perspective ………………………………………………………………….…... 137
6.2 Analysis …………………………………………………………………….……140
7
TABLE OF CONTENTS – Continued
6.3 Chapter Summary ………………………………………………………….…… 160
7. COLLEGE QUALITY AND JOB SATISFACTION …………………..…….…… 164
7.1 Perspective ………………………………………………………………….…... 164
7.2 Analysis …………………………………………………………………….……167
7.3 Chapter Summary ………………………………………………………….…… 188
8. SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION ………...………………..………………….….. 190
APPENDIX A. SELF-SELECTION BIAS ...…………………………………….…... 217
APPENDIX B. HIERARCHICAL LINEAR MODELING …..………………….…... 226
APPENDIX C. MEASURES OF COLLEGE QUALITY ……………………….…... 235
APPENDIX D. COLLEGE QUALITY AND EARNINGS GROWTH ……….….…. 251
APPENDIX E. TABLES …………………………………………………………....... 265
REFERENCES …………………….………………………………………………..... 331
8
LIST OF TABLES

Chapter 2
2.1 Summary of Previous Studies of the Effect of College Quality on
Earnings .…………………………………………………………………………..26
2.2 Research Questions and Hypotheses ……………………………...………………43
Chapter 3
3.1 Distribution of Students across Colleges of Varying Quality ……………………. 55
3.2 Descriptive Statistics of Independent Variables by College Quality …………….. 57
3.3 Multinomial Logit Estimates for College Quality ………………………...……... 63
3.4 Ordered Logit Estimates for College Quality …………………………...……….. 64
3.5 OLS Estimates for Tuition and Fees ……………………………………...……… 68
3.6 OLS Estimates for Merged SAT and ACT Quartile ………………………...…… 71
3.7 Logit Estimates for Educational Aspiration …………………………………..…. 72
Chapter 4
4.1 Descriptive Statistics of Variables in the Earnings Equation ……………………..79
4.2 OLS Estimates for the Earnings Equation ……………………………………...... 81
4.3 Average Tuition by College Quality and Types of Control …...…………………. 87
4.4 The Effect of College Quality Measured by Baron’s Ratings and
SAT Scores ………………………………………………………………………..95
4.5 OLS Estimates for Earnings Equations by Gender ………………...…………….. 101
4.6 Means of Annual Earnings by College Quality and by Race/Ethnicity ………......105
9
LIST OF TABLES – Continued
4.7 OLS Estimates for Earnings Equations by Race …………………………...……..107
4.8 OLS Estimates for Earnings Equations by Family Income …………………...…. 111
4.9 OLS Estimates for Earnings Equations by Mother’s Education ………...……….. 114
4.10 OLS Estimates for Earnings Equations by Father’s Education …………...……. 116
4.11 OLS Estimates for Earnings Equations by Parental Education ……...…………. 116
4.12 OLS Estimates for Earnings Equations by SAT/ACT Quartile ………...………. 117
4.13 OLS Estimates for Earnings Equations by Field of Study ……………...………. 121
Chapter 5
5.1 Annual Earnings for Each Type of College by Distributional Points ……………. 131
5.2 Quantile Estimates for the Earnings Equation ……………………………...……. 133
Chapter 6
6.1 Distribution of Post-Baccalaureate Enrollment and Degree
Attainment …………………………………………………………..……….……140
6.2 Binomial Logit Estimates of Graduate Enrollment, Marginal Effects …..………. 144
6.3 Binomial Logit Estimates of Doctoral Enrollment, Marginal Effects ……..….…. 147
6.4 Multinomial Logit Estimates of Graduate School Enrolled, Marginal
Effects ………………………………………………………………………...….. 151
6.5 Binomial Logit Estimates of Graduate Degree Attainment, Marginal
Effects …………………………………………………………………...……….. 154
6.6 Multinomial Logit Estimates of Graduate School Conferring Degree,
Marginal Effects …………………………………………………………..……... 157
10
LIST OF TABLES – Continued
Chapter Seven
7.1 Frequencies of Job Satisfaction Indicators ………………………….……..……...168
7.2 Pearson Correlation between Nine Aspects of Job Satisfaction ……….…...……..169
7.3 Count of Significant and Insignificant Coefficients ………………………………173
7.4 Factor Structure of Nine Satisfaction Indicators ……………………………...….. 176
7.5 Ordered Logit Models of Job Satisfaction, Marginal Effects ……………….….... 178
Appendix A
A.1 OLS Estimates for Earnings Equation, Selection Corrected ……………..….…...221
A.2 Conditional and Unconditional Earnings Differentials …………………..….…... 223
Appendix B
B.1 Variance Components for Earnings ………………………………………………228
B.2 HLM Estimates for Earnings Equation …………………………………...……... 229
B.3 Comparison Between the OLS and HLM Estimates …………………………….. 230
Appendix C
C.1 Distribution of Students across Colleges of Varying Quality by
Mean SAT Scores …………………………………………………...…………... 236
C.2 Distribution of Students across Colleges of Varying Quality by
Carnegie Category ………………………………………………………………..237
C.3 OLS Estimates for Earnings Equation (quality measured by mean
SAT scores) ………………………………………………………………..……. 239