| Jeff Grogger
University of California, Los Angeles
High school quality and the early careers of non-college-bound youths
FINAL REPORT:
Study 1: The Quality of Vocational Education and the Post-Schooling Earnings of non-College Bound Youths.
Since the vast majority of non-college-bound students take vocational classes, it is natural to ask whether differences in the quality of vocational programs lead to differences in students' post-schooling earnings. A utility-maximization model of post-secondary enrollment decisions show that the quality of the vocational program may affect both educational attainment as well as later earnings. Indeed, an analysis of data from the High School and Beyond Sophomore Cohort shows that the effects of some program features are perverse, because they induce students to refrain from college while failing to increase earnings. On the other hand, certain program features, such as the assignment of responsibility for placing students in jobs, have important beneficial effects.
Study 2: School Expenditures and Post-Schooling Earnings: Evidence from High School and Beyond.
Studies based on inputs measured at the state level generally report that school expenditures have substantial effects on students' adult wages, whereas studies based on less aggregated measures report small effects. I use wage data from High School and Beyond to analyze this discrepancy, and to estimate the effect of school expenditures on students' post-schooling earnings. I find that the discrepancy in the literature stems mostly from two factors: measurement error in district-level expenditures and omitted state effects in the eamings regression. I also find that the effect of school expenditures on eamings is significant but small. A ten percent increase in school spending would increase students' adult wages by only 0.68 percent.
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