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Is Starting College and Not Finishing Really That Bad?

June 2013 • Michael Greenstone, Adam Looney • Economic Security, Employment & Wages, Education

In recent years there has been increasing concern about students who begin two- and four-year college programs but fail to complete a degree—particularly in light of the large increase in student debt and concerns about the high costs of college. In this month’s employment analysis, The Hamilton Project examines whether starting college is worth it for students who fail to complete a degree. The findings show that students who complete “some college” earn about $100,000 more throughout their lifetime than their peers with only a high school education, and the rate of return to their investment exceeds the historical return on practically any conventional investment, including stocks, bonds, and real estate.

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The Hamilton Project Policy Response to the State of the Union Address

February 2013 • Economic Security, Education, Effective Government, Employment & Wages, Energy & Environment, Global Economy, Health Care, Infrastructure, Poverty, State & Local, Tax Policy, Technology & Innovation

In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama outlined an ambitious second-term agenda focusing on policies to help strengthen America’s middle class through broad-based economic growth. Since its launch in 2006, The Hamilton Project has released a range of targeted policy proposals that provide innovative, evidence-based approaches to address many of the priorities set forth in this year’s address, which we offer as a resource to policymakers in response to specific ideas mentioned by the President this week.

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Staying in School: A Proposal for Raising High-School Graduation Rates

January 2013 • Derek Messacar, Philip Oreopoulos • Education

The Winter issue of Issues in Science and Technology highlights a Hamilton Project discussion paper in which Philip Oreopoulos and Derek Messacar of the University of Toronto present a strategy for reducing the dropout rate that would raise the compulsory schooling age to 18, and also combines stricter and better-enforced school-attendance laws with programs that have been statistically proven to prevent disengagement among at-risk students.

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The Uncomfortable Truth About American Wages

October 2012 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Employment & Wages, Education

The stagnation of wages in recent years has many causes, but reflects a failure to invest enough in the skills and productivity of the American workforce, Hamilton Project Director Michael Greenstone and Policy Director Adam Looney write in the New York Times' Economix.

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Regardless of the Cost, College Still Matters

October 2012 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Effective Government, Education, Employment & Wages, State & Local

There is ongoing debate about the rising cost of college and whether that investment is still worthwhile in today’s economy. In this month’s employment analysis, The Hamilton Project examines the rising cost of college over the last 30 years and finds that while college costs are growing, the increase in earnings one receives from a college degree—and, by extension, the cost of not going to college—are growing even faster.

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A Dozen Economic Facts About K-12 Education

September 2012 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Education, Employment & Wages

The Hamilton Project explores both the condition of education in the United States and the economic evidence on several promising K-12 interventions that could improve the lives of Americans.

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Learning from the Successes and Failures of Charter Schools

September 2012 • Roland Fryer, Jr. • Education

Because many successful charter schools represent a radical departure from traditional public schools, they often embody a black box to educational reformers. Roland Fryer of Harvard demonstrates how preliminary results in Houston and Denver public schools provide a path forward for applying effective charter school methods in traditional public schools.

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Harnessing Technology to Improve K-12 Education

September 2012 • Aaron Chatterji, Benjamin F. Jones • Education, Technology & Innovation

Education technologies hold promise for personalized learning and for building basic skills, but a fundamental obstacle remains: the effectiveness of learning technologies is rarely known. Building on the Common Core State Standards and increasing access to broadband internet, Aaron K. Chatterji of Duke University and Benjamin Jones of Northwestern University propose the establishment of a new third-party ratings organization to overcome this challenge.

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Staying in School: A Proposal to Raise High School Graduation Rates

September 2012 • Philip Oreopoulos, Derek Messacar • Education, Employment & Wages

Philip Oreopoulos of the University of Toronto presents a strategy for reducing the dropout rate through a carrot-and-stick approach starts with raising the compulsory schooling age to 18, and also combines stricter and better-enforced school-attendance laws with programs that have been statistically proven to prevent disengagement among at-risk students.

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Innovation is the Key to Better Education

September 2012 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Education, Employment & Wages

Although innovation has revolutionized the American economy as a whole over the last century, the education sector has benefitted relatively little from these advances.In a forthcoming paper, The Hamilton Project compares the nation’s total expenditures on research and development by sector and finds spending on education lags behind other areas such as pharmaceuticals and medicine.

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Education Is The Key To Better Jobs

September 2012 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Education, Employment & Wages

Is it enough to find a job, or should we be more focused on the quality of that job? There may be a range of perspectives on the best way to move our economy forward, but one element essential to any answer is education. The Hamilton Project examines the effects of education on income level and shows more education opens the gateway to better, higher-paying jobs.

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A Record Decline in Government Jobs: Implications for the Economy and America’s Workforce

August 2012 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Employment & Wages, Education, State & Local, Effective Government

The Hamilton Project examines the short- and long-run impacts of public-sector job cuts since the Great Recession. If the share of government employment to population had remained at historical levels, the unemployment rate would be approximately 7.1 percent.

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The Hamilton Project Policy Response to the State of the Union Address

January 2012 • Education, Economic Security, Employment & Wages, Energy & Environment, Infrastructure, Tax Policy, Technology & Innovation

Last night, President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union address, putting forth his policy agenda to the 112th Congress on issues. Since its launch in 2006, The Hamilton Project has developed targeted policy proposals that touch on many of these areas, which we offer as a resource to policymakers in response to specific ideas mentioned by the President last evening.

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Raising Job Quality and Skills for American Workers: Creating More-Effective Education and Workforce Development Systems in the States

November 2011 • Harry J. Holzer • Employment & Wages, Education, Economic Security, Global Economy, Poverty

Less educated workers often experience prolonged periods of unemployment and stagnating wages because they lack the skills necessary to compete in a global economy. In a new Hamilton Project paper, Harry J. Holzer proposes a set of competitive grants to fund education, training, and career counseling initiatives that feature private sector connections based on the experience of existing successful workforce development programs.

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Building America’s Job Skills with Effective Workforce Programs: A Training Strategy to Raise Wages and Increase Work Opportunities

November 2011 • Michael Greenstone, Adam Looney • Employment & Wages, Education, Global Economy, Economic Security, Poverty

Amid the Great Recession and rapid technological changes, both workers with less education and workers who have been displaced from long-tenured jobs face challenges because they lack the particular skills that employers demand for good-paying jobs. In a new Hamilton Project strategy paper, Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney address the importance of developing workers’ skills through training and workforce development programs, and examine newly available evidence on policies that boost job opportunities and wages.

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Policies to Reduce High-Tenured Displaced Workers’ Earnings Losses Through Retraining

November 2011 • Louis S. Jacobson, Daniel G. Sullivan, Robert J. LaLonde • Employment & Wages, Education, Poverty, Global Economy, Economic Security

After being displaced from long-tenured jobs, workers often experience persistent, significant earnings losses. New research suggests that retraining in certain “high-return” fields can substantially reduce these losses. In a new Hamilton Project paper, Louis S. Jacobson, Robert J. LaLonde and Daniel G. Sullivan propose the establishment of a Displaced Worker Training (DWT) Program to distribute grants to displaced workers so they can obtain longer-term training to substantially increase their earnings. The DWT Program would also leverage the nation’s One-Stop Career Centers to assess and counsel grantees.

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Improving Student Outcomes: Restoring America’s Education Potential

September 2011 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone, Paige Shevlin • Education

For decades, education has boosted U.S. productivity and earnings, forged a path out of poverty for many families, helped disadvantaged students narrow the learning gap with their peers, and developed a workforce that continues to be among the most productive and innovative on Earth. However, in recent years educational attainment and performance have stagnated. In a new strategy paper, The Hamilton Project provides a dual-track approach to improving educational outcomes for K-12 students by addressing structural barriers and implementing short-term cost-effective reforms to improve student performance.

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The Power and Pitfalls of Education Incentives

September 2011 • Bradley M. Allan, Roland Fryer, Jr. • Education

Recent incentive programs demonstrate that well-designed rewards to students can improve student achievement at relatively low costs. Bradley M. Allan and Roland G. Fryer draw on field experiments to propose a set of guidelines to design a successful education incentive program. Those guidelines include paying students to perform tasks that will lead to better academic performance rather than paying them for grades and test scores alone.

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Organizing Schools to Improve Student Achievement: Start Times, Grade Configurations, and Teacher Assignments

September 2011 • Brian A. Jacob, Jonah E. Rockoff • Education

While education reform is often focused on dramatic changes, Brian A. Jacob and Jonah E. Rockoff suggest that implementing managerial reforms and making sure the “trains run on time” can substantially increase student learning at modest cost. Jacob and Rockoff propose three organizational reforms to improve student performance at moderate cost: 1) Starting school later in the day for middle and high school students; 2) Shifting from separate to elementary and middle schools to K-8; 3) allow teachers to teach the same grade level for multiple years or having teachers specializing in the subject where they appear most effective.

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New Assessments for Improved Accountability

September 2011 • Derek Neal • Education

In recent years, efforts to hold teachers and schools accountable for student test scores have increased as part of an attempt to increase student achievement by raising teacher effectiveness and bringing up the performance of low-performing schools. Derek Neal proposes improved assessments and accountability systems through two distinct examinations: one traditional test to track educational achievement over time, and a new examination to evaluate teacher performance.

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Are We Short-Changing our Future? The Economic Imperative of Attracting Great Teachers

September 2011 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Employment & Wages, Education

America's workforce needs a strong eduction system to compete and research demonstrates the power of a good teacher to boost student achievement. However, hiring and retaining effective teachers has become difficult, partly due to compensation. In a new policy memo, The Hamilton Project explores the relative salary declines of teachers during the last four decades when compared to other professions.

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Where is the Best Place to Invest $102,000 — In Stocks, Bonds, or a College Degree?

June 2011 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Economic Security, Education, Employment & Wages

Is college a worthwhile investment? Hamilton Project Director Michael Greenstone and Policy Director Adam Looney compare the value of a college degree to other investment options and find higher education provides, by far, the greatest rate of return.

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How Do Recent College Grads Really Stack Up? Employment and Earnings for Graduates of the Great Recession

June 2011 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Education, Employment & Wages

As the job market continues to struggle, there has been much debate about whether a college education has been worth the investment for recent graduates. Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney examine whether recent college graduates are better off, in terms of employment and earnings, than their counterparts who did not invest in a degree.

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Investing in the Future: An Economic Strategy for State and Local Governments in a Period of Tight Budgets

February 2011 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Infrastructure, Education, State & Local

Confronting near-term budget challenges, state and local governments are under tremendous pressure to focus on immediate needs at the expense of long-term investments. Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney highlight four policy principles for state and local governments with an emphasis on the importance of infrastructure investments for economic growth and prosperity.

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A Broader Look at The U.S. Employment Situation and the Importance of a Good Education

February 2011 • Adam Looney, Michael Greenstone • Education, Employment & Wages

The January employment numbers, released today by the U.S. Department of Labor, present mixed evidence about the state of the labor market. While the unemployment rate dropped to 9 percent, payrolls were just better than flat, increasing by only 36,000 jobs last month. Much attention is given to the official unemployment rate, which is certainly an important indicator of our employment situation. But, in fact, the unemployment rate tends to understate the severity of the challenge for American workers in the aftermath of the Great Recession.

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Grading Higher Education: Giving Consumers the Information They Need

December 2010 • Bridget Terry Long • Education, Effective Government

Potential students and their families must navigate a labyrinth of incomplete and uncertain information when deciding where to go to college, what to study, or what career to pursue, resulting in an arrrray of poor choices being made every day. This proposal calls for the federal government to expand the types of information that are available and allow users to compare indicators like cost, financial aid, student debt, employment outcomes, and average salaries following graduation, across peer institutions.

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Retraining Displaced Workers

October 2010 • Robert J. LaLonde, Daniel G. Sullivan • Employment & Wages, Education

Robert LaLonde of the University of Chicago and Daniel Sullivan of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago suggest that retraining through our nation’s community colleges is a way to reduce the skills gaps of at least some of these displaced workers and increase their reemployment earnings.

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Evidence from May’s Employment Numbers on the Benefits of Education

June 2010 • Michael Greenstone • Employment & Wages, Education

May employment numbers, released by the Labor Department today, demonstrate continued momentum behind our nation’s economic recovery. With 431,000 new jobs, building on the 290,000 jobs created in April, this marks the first time we’ve had five consecutive months of positive job growth since the beginning of the Great Recession in December 2007.

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Viewing Education Loans Through a Myopic Lens

June 2008 • Sima Gandi • Education

Although the federal government dedicated nearly $40 billion to funding student loans in 2006, only 60 percent of potential students from low-income families attend college, compared with 90 percent from high-income families. This paper argues that enrollment rates are lower than they could be because potential students undervalue loan subsidies, which are delivered after graduation instead of up front when a student enrolls and incurs costs.

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Reshaping Student Loan Programs to Fit the Careers of Young College Graduates

April 2007 • Thomas J. Kane • Education

The payoff to a college education has increased dramatically over the last two decades. At the same time, the cost of a college education has increased steeply. To provide all Americans with the opportunity to share in the prosperity of the knowledge-based economy, those high-school graduates who are prepared to benefit from college must have access to the financial resources needed to pursue their education.

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An Education Strategy to Promote Opportunity, Prosperity, and Growth

February 2007 • Jason E. Bordoff, Jason Furman • Education, Technology & Innovation

To better secure the benefits of education, this paper outlines an evidence-based education strategy that emphasizes new investments in some areas (such as early education) and structural reforms in others (such as the teacher tenure system).

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Success By Ten: Intervening Early, Often, and Effectively in the Education of Young Children

February 2007 • Jens Ludwig, Isabel V. Sawhill • Education

The absence of a quality early education for many disadvantaged children represents an extraordinary waste of human potential. This paper outlines a model for helping such children achieve success through an intensive early education program.

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College Grants on a Postcard: A Proposal for Simple and Predictable Federal Student Aid

February 2007 • Susan M. Dynarski, Judith Scott-Clayton • Education, Effective Government

This paper analyzes the federal student aid system and finds that the level of complexity makes it ineffective at increasing college enrollment. The paper then outlines a simplified system to address this issue.

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Investing in the Best and Brightest: Increased Fellowship Support for American Scientists and Engineers

December 2006 • Richard B. Freeman • Education, Technology & Innovation

Richard Freeman discusses the National Science Foundation fellowship policy. He argues that current U.S. NSF fellowship policy gives less of an incentive for students to enter science and engineering than in earlier periods.

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Summer Opportunity Scholarships (SOS): A Proposal to Narrow the Skills Gap

April 2006 • Alan B. Krueger • Education

Even in early grades, a large skill gap exists between students from economically advantaged and disadvantaged families. This paper outlines a program based on evidence from studies of summer programs which will provide scholarships for economically disadvantaged children.

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Identifying Effective Teachers Using Performance on the Job

April 2006 • Robert Gordon, Thomas J. Kane, Douglas O. Staiger • Education

This paper outlines a program of federal support to help states measure the effectiveness of individual teachers. Teachers who receive good evaluations would be offered bonuses if they were willing to teach in high-poverty schools.

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