Out of Work and into School: Labor Market Policies and College Enrollment During the Great Recession
44 Pages Posted: 7 May 2014
Date Written: April 5, 2014
Abstract
The Great Recession brought large increases in unemployment and college enrollment; we explore how changing labor market conditions affected the decision to enroll, focusing on the role of state-specific dimensions of Unemployment Insurance (UI) policy. We measure the enrollment response to changing economic conditions, comparing eighteen and nineteen year-olds with older individuals likely to have accumulated some labor market experience. We find that individuals in their mid to late-twenties are proportionally more responsive to cyclical variation in economic conditions, and we identify a substantial role of the UI program in determining post-secondary enrollment outcomes. States in which academic post-secondary programs unrelated to a specific occupation are allowable under UI have substantially magnified enrollment responses to local economic conditions. In addition, we provide some of the first evidence that the duration of UI affects a displaced individual’s propensity to enroll. These findings identify a substantial overlap between UI policy and post-secondary enrollment decisions, indicating the potential importance of UI in not only providing income but also facilitating investments in skills.
JEL Classification: I230, J640, J650, I380, H530
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation