College on the Cheap: Consequences of Community College Tuition Reductions
Abstract
This paper examines the effects of community college tuition on college enrollment. I exploit quasi-experimental variation from discounts for community college tuition in Texas that were expanded over time and across geography for identification. Community college enrollment in the first year after high school increased by 5.1 percentage points for each $1,000 decrease in tuition, which implies an elasticity of —0.29. Lower tuition also increased transfer from community colleges to universities. Marginal community college enrollees induced to attend by reduced tuition have similar graduation rates as average community college enrollees. (JEL H75, I22, I23, I28)
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Students who live within a given community college taxing district face lower prices than similar students living just outside district boundaries.
“students who live within a given district face lower prices than similar students living just outside district boundaries (Acton, 2021;Denning, 2017;Martorell, McCall & McFarlin, 2014).”
From College Costs, Financial Aid, and Student Decisions (2022) · cites this paper as Denning, 2017
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References 38 · Cited by 106
- Authors
- Denning, J. T.
- Affiliations
- Brigham Young University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Denning, Jeffrey T.
- ORCID
- Denning, Jeffrey T.
- Venue
- American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
- Publisher
- American Economic Association
- Published
- 2017-05-01
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 155-188
- ISSN
- 1945-7731 (ISSN-L)
- 1945-774X
- OpenAlex
- W2607950256
- Cited by
- 106
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2
- FWCI
- 28.29
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Economic Journal Economic Policy (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Research Studies
- Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Education and Public Policy
- Keywords
- tuition discounts, college enrollment, college completion, graduation rates
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