This article reports the findings of a correspondence audit study that examines how online bachelor’s degrees affect labor market outcomes. The study involves sending 1,891 applications for real job openings using 100 fictitious applicant profiles. The applicant profiles are designed to be representative of recent college graduates from established universities. Using random assignment to degree type, applicant profiles that indicate a traditional (in-person) degree receive nearly twice as many callbacks as those that indicate an online degree. Findings suggest that, at least currently, completing an online degree program would significantly limit the labor market prospects of typical college students.
AllenI. ElaineSeamanJeffSeamanJulia E. 2018. Grade increase: Tracking distance education in the United States. Technical report. January. Babson Survey Research Group, Babson College.
2.
AlpertWilliam T.CouchKenneth A.HarmonOskar R. 2016. A randomized assessment of online learning. American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings106: 378–82.
3.
AryEddie J.BruneChristopher W. 2011. A comparison of student learning outcomes in traditional and online personal finance courses. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching7(4): 465–74.
4.
BaertStijn. 2018. Hiring discrimination: An overview of (almost) all correspondence experiments since 2005. In GaddisS. Michael (Ed.), Audit Studies: Behind the Scenes with Theory, Method, and Nuance, pp. 63–77. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG.
5.
BennettDoris S.PadghamGene L.McCartyCynthia S.CarterM. Shawn. 2007. Teaching principles of economics: Internet vs. traditional classroom instruction. Journal of Economics and Economic Education Research8(1): 21–31.
6.
BertrandMarianneMullainathanSendhil. 2004. Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination. American Economic Review94(4): 991–1013.
7.
BowenWilliam G.ChingosMatthew M.LackKelly A.NygrenThomas I. 2014. Interactive learning online at public universities: Evidence from a six-campus randomized trial. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management33(1): 94–111.
8.
CarbonaroWilliamSchwarzJonathan. 2018. Opportunities and challenges in designing and conducting a labor market résumé study. In GaddisS. Michael (Ed.), Audit Studies: Behind the Scenes with Theory, Method, and Nuance, pp. 143–58. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG.
9.
DaleStacy B.KruegerAlan B. 2002. Estimating the payoff to attending a more selective college: An application of selection on observables and unobservables. Quarterly Journal of Economics117(4): 1491–527.
10.
DaleStacy B.KruegerAlan B. 2014. Estimating the effects of college characteristics over the career using administrative earnings data. Journal of Human Resources49(2): 323–58.
11.
DaroliaRajeevKoedelCoryMartorellPacoWilsonKatiePerez-ArceFrancisco. 2015. Do employers prefer workers who attend for-profit colleges? Evidence from a field experiment. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management34(4): 881–903.
12.
DaymountThomasBlauGary. 2008. Student performance in online and traditional sections of an undergraduate management course. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management9(3): 275–94.
13.
DemingDavid J.YuchtmanNoamAbulafiAmiraGoldinClaudiaKatzLawrence F. 2016. The value of postsecondary credentials in the labor market. American Economic Review106(3): 778–806.
14.
DeterdingNicole M.PedullaDavid S. 2016. Educational authority in the “open door” marketplace: Labor market consequences of for-profit, nonprofit, and fictional educational credentials. Sociology of Education89(3): 155–70.
15.
DriscollAdamJichaKarlHuntAndrea N.TichavskyLisaThompsonGretchen. 2012. Can online courses deliver in-class results? A comparison of student performance and satisfaction in an online versus a face-to-face introductory sociology course. Teaching Sociology40(4): 312–31.
16.
FiglioDavidRushMarkYinLu. 2013. Is it live or is it internet? Experimental estimates of the effects of online instruction on student learning. Journal of Labor Economics31(4): 763–84.
17.
GaddisS. Michael. 2015. Discrimination in the credential society: An audit study of race and college selectivity in the labor market. Social Forces93(4): 1451–79.
18.
GaddisS. Michael. 2017a. How black are Lakisha and Jamal? Racial perceptions from names used in correspondence audit studies. Sociological Science4: 469–89.
19.
GaddisS. Michael. 2017b. Racial/ethnic perceptions from Hispanic names: Selecting names to test for discrimination. Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World3: 1–11.
20.
GaddisS. Michael. 2018. An introduction to audit studies in the social sciences. In GaddisS. Michael (Ed.), Audit Studies: Behind the Scenes with Theory, Method, and Nuance, pp. 3–44. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG.
21.
Hernandez-JulianReyPetersChristina. 2012. Does the medium matter? Online versus paper coursework. Southern Economic Journal78(4): 1333–45.
22.
KangSonia K.DeCellesKatherine A.TilcsikAndrasJunSora. 2016. Whitened résumés: Race and self-presentation in the labor market. Administrative Science Quarterly61(3): 469–502.
23.
KroftKoryLangeFabianNotowidigdoMatthew J. 2013. Duration dependence and labor market conditions: Evidence from a field experiment. Quarterly Journal of Economics128(3): 1123–67.
24.
LackKelly A.2013. Current status of research on online learning in postsecondary education. Research report. March. New York: Ithaka S+R.
25.
LaheyJoanna N.BeasleyRyan A. 2009. Computerizing audit studies. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization70(3): 508–14.
26.
LaheyJoanna N.BeasleyRyan A. 2018. Technical aspects of correspondence studies. In GaddisS. Michael (Ed.), Audit Studies: Behind the Scenes with Theory, Method, and Nuance, pp. 81–101. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG.
27.
LevittSteven D.DubnerStephen J. 2005. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. New York: William Morrow.
28.
NeumarkDavid. 2018. Experimental research on labor market discrimination. Journal of Economic Literature56(3): 799–866.
29.
PagerDevah. 2007. The use of field experiments for studies of employment discrimination: Contributions, critiques, and directions for the future. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science609(1): 104–33.
30.
PhillipsDavid C.2019. Do comparisons of fictional applicants measure discrimination when search externalities are present? Evidence from existing experiments. Economic Journal129(621): 2240–64.
31.
RichAnne J.DereshiwskyMary I. 2011. Assessing the comparative effectiveness of teaching undergraduate intermediate accounting in the online classroom format. Journal of College Teaching and Learning8(9): 19–28.
32.
SpenceMichael. 1973. Job market signaling. Quarterly Journal of Economics87(3): 355–74.
33.
VuoloMikeUggenChristopherLagesonSarah. 2016. Statistical power in experimental audit studies: Cautions and calculations for matched tests with nominal outcomes. Sociological Methods and Research45(2): 260–303.
34.
VuoloMikeUggenChristopherLagesonSarah. 2018. To match or not to match? Statistical and substantive considerations in audit design and analysis. In GaddisS. Michael (Ed.), Audit Studies: Behind the Scenes with Theory, Method, and Nuance, pp. 119–40. Cham: Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG.
