Term Time Employment and the Academic Performance of Undergraduates

Journal of Education Finance, Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 359-374, Spring 2010

28 Pages Posted: 10 Feb 2009 Last revised: 6 Apr 2010

See all articles by Michael Wenz

Michael Wenz

Northeastern Illinois University Department of Economics

William Yu

UCLA Anderson School of Management, Anderson Forecast

Date Written: April 2, 2010

Abstract

This paper examines the decision of undergraduate students to engage in paid employment during their academic semester. We present the decision to work as part of the human capital earnings function and examine how term time employment affects academic performance. Using a unique dataset, we exploit individual-level variation in employment status and work hours to build a differencing model to show that term time employment has a modest negative effect on grade point average. An individual who increases their work effort by one hour per week reduces their grade point average by about 0.007 points.

Keywords: Student Labor Supply

JEL Classification: J24, J01, J22

Suggested Citation

Wenz, Michael G. and Yu, Wei-Choun, Term Time Employment and the Academic Performance of Undergraduates (April 2, 2010). Journal of Education Finance, Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 359-374, Spring 2010 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1340268

Michael G. Wenz (Contact Author)

Northeastern Illinois University Department of Economics ( email )

5500 N. St. Louis
Chicago, IL 60625
United States

Wei-Choun Yu

UCLA Anderson School of Management, Anderson Forecast ( email )

110 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1481
United States
310-825-7805 (Phone)

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