Community colleges have long been recognized for their potential in providing access to post-secondary education for students of limited means. Indeed, the recent #FreeTuition movement is built on community colleges as a cornerstone. Previous research on the value of community colleges in...

This paper examines how the pandemic impacted the enrollment patterns, fields of study, and academic outcomes of students in the California Community College System, the largest higher-education system in the country. Enrollment dropped precipitously during the pandemic - the total number of...

Although enrollment at California’s four-year public universities mostly remained unchanged by the pandemic, the effects were substantial for students at California Community Colleges, the largest higher education system in the country. This paper provides a detailed analysis of how the...

Although enrollment at California's four-year public universities mostly remained unchanged by the pandemic, the effects were substantial for students at California Community Colleges, the largest higher education system in the country. This paper provides a detailed analysis of how the pandemic...

This paper studies the impacts of withdrawing from and failing a course, relative to successful completion, on persistence for community college students. We leverage random assignment of students to instructors for identification. Withdrawing from a course reduces the probability of persistence...

The low number of college graduates with science degrees - particularly among under-represented minorities - is of growing concern. We examine differences across universities in graduating students in different fields. Using student-level data on the University of California system during a...

Between 1960 and 1979, 93 new universities opened in Germany. Using this large tertiary education expansion, I estimate the effect of a university opening on the probability of obtaining a university degree in the local population. I exploit the geographical variation in local university access...

Die Neugründung und der Ausbau von Hochschulen gehören zu dem gängigen Instrumenten der regionalen Strukturpolitik. Welche Auswirkungen aber hat die Existenz einer Hochschule in ökonomischer Hinsicht tatsächlich für eine Region? Das vorliegende Paper analysiert und vergleicht die...

Higher education is in the position to save Europe by rendering a substantial contribution to sustainable economic growth. For that purpose higher education must strengthen its innovative power in entrepreneurship education and by focusing research more on societal problems, while being better...

Flucht und Migration sind alte und weltweite Phänomene. Letztes Jahr hat jedoch die Zahl der Flüchtlinge nach Europa und insbesondere Deutschland stark zugenommen, während die deutsche Bundeskanzlerin die bis dahin geltenden europäischen und deutschen Regeln außer Kraft setzte. Dies stellt...