Many community college students start college in developmental education and leave before enrolling in college-level coursework or making much progress toward a degree; thus, developmental education courses represent the primary education these students receive. Using student-unit record data from two large community college systems linked to wage record data, this is the first study to estimate the labor market returns to developmental education. For two cohorts of students who attended community college in North Carolina and Virginia, we find that earning developmental English credits led to an increase in earnings due to an increased likelihood of employment. In contrast, in both states, developmental math credits had negative impacts on earnings, particularly for those assigned to the lowest level of the developmental math sequence.
AnderssonF.HolzerH. J.LaneJ. I.RosenblumD.SmithJ. (2013). Does federally-funded job training work? Nonexperimental estimates of WIA training impacts using longitudinal data on workers and firms (NBER Working Paper No. 19446). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
2.
AshenfelterO. (1978). Estimating the effect of training programs on earnings. Review of Economics and Statistics, 60, 47–50.
3.
AshenfelterO.HarmonC.OosterbeekH. (1999). A review of estimates of the schooling/earnings relationship, with tests for publication bias (NBER Working Paper No. 7457). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
4.
AttewellP.LavinD. E.DominaT.LeveyT. (2006). New evidence on college remediation. Journal of Higher Education, 77(5), 886–924.
5.
BahrP. R. (2014). The labor market return in earnings to community college credits and credentials in California. Ann Arbor, MI: Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, School of Education, University of Michigan. Retrieved from http://www.soe.umich.edu/people/profile/peter_riley_bahr/
6.
BaileyT.JeongD. W.ChoS. (2010). Referral, enrollment, and completion in developmental education sequences in community colleges. Economics of Education Review, 29(2), 255–270.
7.
BeckerG. S. (1962). Investment in human capital: A theoretical analysis. Journal of Political Economy, 70, 9–49.
8.
BelfiedC. R.BaileyT. (2011) The benefits of attending community college: A review of the evidence. Community College Review, 39(1), 46–48.
9.
BettingerE.LongB.T. (2009). Addressing the needs of underprepared students in higher education: Does college remediation work?Journal of Human Resources, 44(3), 736–771.
10.
BoatmanA.LongB.T. (2010, September). Does remediation work for all students? How the effects of postsecondary remedial and developmental courses vary by level of academic preparation. Paper prepared for the NCPR Developmental Education Conference: What Policies and Practices Work for Students?, Teachers College, Columbia University.
11.
BroadbridgeA.SwansonV. (2006). Managing two roles. Community, Work and Family, 9(2), 159–179.
12.
CalcagnoJ. C.LongB. T. (2008). The impact of postsecondary remediation using a regression discontinuity approach: Addressing endogenous sorting and noncompliance (NBER Working Paper. No. 14194). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
13.
CardD. (1999). The causal effect of education on earnings. In AshenfelterO.CardD. (Eds.), Handbook of labor economics (Vol. 3A, pp. 1801–1864). Amsterdam: North-Holland.
14.
CardD. (2001). Estimating the return to schooling: Progress on some persistent econometric problems. Econometrica, 69(5), 1127–1160.
15.
CelliniS. R.ChaudharyL. (2012). The labor market returns to a for-profit college education (NBER Working Paper No. 18343). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
16.
ChiswickB. R.MillerP. W. (2007). The economics of language. New York, NY: Routledge.
17.
CourantP.McPhersonM.ReschA. (2006). The public role in higher education. National Tax Journal, 59(2), 291–318.
18.
CullinaneJ.TreismanU. (2010, September). Improving developmental mathematics education in community colleges: A prospectus and early progress reports on the Statway Initiative. Paper prepared for the NCPR Developmental Education Conference: What Policies and Practices Work for Students?, Teachers College, Columbia University.
19.
DadgarM. (2012). Essays on the economics of community college students’ academic and labor market success (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. (Accession Order No. [3506175]).
20.
DadgarM.WeissM. J. (2014). Labor market returns to sub-baccalaureate credentials: How much does a community college degree or certificate pay?Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Advance online publication. doi:10.3102/0162373714553814
21.
DemingD. (2015). The growing importance of social skills in the labor market (NBER Working Paper No. 21473). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
22.
DykeA.HeinrichC.MueserP.TroskeK.JeonK. (2006). The effects of welfare-to-work program activities on labor market outcomes. Journal of Labor Economics, 24(3), 567–608.
23.
FordJ.BosworthD. (1995). Part-time work and full-time higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 20(2), 187–204.
24.
GrubbW. N., with GabrinerR. (2013). Basic skills education in community colleges. New York, NY: Routledge.
25.
HodaraM. (2012). Language minority students at community college: How do developmental education and English as a second language affect their educational outcomes? (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (Accession Order No. 3505981)
26.
HodaraM.JaggarsS. S.KarpM. M. (2012). Improving developmental education assessment and placement: Lessons from community colleges across the country (CCRC Working Paper No. 51). New York, NY: Columbia University, Teachers College, Community College Research Center.
27.
JacobsonL.LaLondeR.SullivanD. G. (2005). Estimating the returns to community college schooling for displaced workers. Journal of Econometrics, 125, 271–304.
28.
JaggarsS. S.HodaraM. (2011). The opposing forces that shape developmental education: Assessment, placement, and progression at CUNY community colleges (CCRC Working Paper No. 36). New York, NY: Columbia University, Teachers College, Community College Research Center.
29.
JaggarsS. S.HodaraM.ChoS.-W.XuD. (2015). Three accelerated developmental education programs: Features, student outcomes, and implications. Community College Review, 43(1), 3–26.
30.
JenkinsD.ChoS.-W. (2012). Get with the program: Accelerating community college students’ entry into and completion of programs of study (CCRC Working Paper No. 32-Rev. ed.). New York, NY: Columbia University, Teachers College, Community College Research Center. Retrieved from http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/publications/get-with-the-program.html
31.
JepsenC.TroskeK.CoomesP. (2014). The labor-market returns to community college degrees, diplomas, and certificates. Journal of Labor Economics, 32(1), 95–121.
32.
KimK. N.BakerR. M. (2015). The assumed benefits and hidden costs of adult learners’ college enrollment. Research in Higher Education, 56, 510–533.
33.
MartorellP.McFarlinI. (2011). Help of hindrance? The effects of college remediation on academic and labor market outcomes. The Review of Economics & Statistics, 93(2), 436–454.
34.
McCabeR. H. (2000). No one to waste: A report to public decision-makers and community college leaders. Washington, DC: Community College Press.
35.
McIntoshS.VignolesA. (2001). Measuring and assessing the impact of basic skills on labor market outcomes. Oxford Economic Papers, 3, 453–481.
36.
MerriamS. B.CaffarellaR. S.BaumgartnerL. M. (2007). Learning in adulthood: A comprehensive guide. San Francisco, CA: Wiley.
37.
MersethK. K. (2011). Update: Report on innovations in developmental mathematics—Moving mathematical graveyards. Journal of Developmental Education, 34(3), 32–39.
38.
MortimerJ.PimentelE.RyuS.NashK.LeeC. (1996). Part-time work and occupational value formation in adolescence. Social Forces, 74(4), 1405–1418.
39.
MonksJ. (2000). The returns to individual and college characteristics: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Economics of Education Review, 19(3), 279–289.
40.
MurnaneR. J.WillettJ. B.LevyF. (1995). The growing importance of cognitive skills in wage determination. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 77(2), 251–266.
PickeringA.WattsC. (2000). Pay as you learn: Student employment and academic progress. Education and Training, 42(3), 129–134.
43.
RumbergerR. W.ThomasS. L. (1993). The economic returns to college major, quality and performance: A multilevel analysis of recent graduates. Economics of Education Review, 12(1), 1–19.
44.
Scott-ClaytonJ.CrostaP.BelfieldC. (2014). Improving the targeting of treatment: Evidence from college remediation. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 36(3), 371–393.
45.
Scott-ClaytonJ.RodriguezO. (2015). Development, discouragement, or diversion? New evidence on the effects of college remediation. Education Finance and Policy, 10(1), 4–45.
SteeleC.AaronsonJ. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 797–811.
48.
VoiculescuF. (2009) Opportunity cost of educational human capital investment. Application for the position of beneficiary-investors. Annales Universitatis Apulensis Series Oeconomica, 11(2), 744–754.
49.
Van OursJ. C. (2004). The locking-in effect of subsidized jobs. Journal of Comparative Economics, 32(1), 37–52.
50.
WattsC. (2002). The effects of part-time employment on academic performance. Education and Training, 44, 67–76.
51.
WeissA. (1995). Human capital vs. signaling explanations of wages. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9, 133–154.
52.
WeisbrodB. A.KarpoffP. (1968). Monetary returns to college education, student ability, and college quality. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 50(4), 491–497.
53.
WolfeB.HavemanR. (2002) Social and nonmarket benefits from education in an advanced economy. In Education in the 21st Century (pp. 97–131). Boston, MA: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
54.
WooldridgeJ. (2002). Econometric analysis of cross section and panel data. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
55.
XuD. (2013). Three essays on the impact of cost-saving strategies on student outcomes (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses database. (UMI No. 3561734).
