Jeffrey Parker

Tuition and enrollment yield at selective liberal arts colleges

Abstract This paper investigates the effect of changes in tuition and fees on the matriculation rate of applicants admitted to a group of selective liberal arts colleges. Our sample is drawn from a detailed data base for 82 liberal arts colleges over the 1988 to 1990 period, compiled by the Higher Education Data Sharing (HEDS) Consortium. We find that an increase in the level of tuition and fees charged by a college causes d significant reduction in the share of admitted applicants who choose to enroll. The elasticity of this relationship is in the neighborhood of one-third, and is somewhat larger for financial aid recipients than for students who did not apply for or did not qualify for aid.

Cost, quality and enrollment demand at liberal arts colleges

Abstract This paper examines the effects of cost, quality and macroeconomic factors on the demand for higher education (represented by the share of admitted freshmen choosing to enroll) at a group of selective liberal arts colleges over the period from 1988 to 1998. Students are segregated by their financial-aid status with different demand equations estimated for each. Students who have no financial need or did not apply for aid are found to have a tuition elasticity close to unity, implying that a 1% increase in tuition will lead to about a 1% decrease in enrollment yield. The analysis of aid recipients suggests that both relative tuition and financial-aid levels play a significant role in determining the enrollment yield of a college. Tuition and room and board levels negatively affect the enrollment yield of this group of students, while grants and loans increase the likelihood of enrollment of admitted students. The evidence on the effects of school quality variables and macroeconomic factors is weak. There is some evidence that a higher ranking in the US News and World Report college guide increases yield, but specific quality measures such as SAT scores have little statistical significance.

Does Living Near Classmates Help Introductory Economics Students Get Better Grades

This article examines whether first-year students in introductory economics courses get better grades if they have other students in their on-campus residential unit who either are taking the same course or have taken the course in the past. The study uses nine years of data for the introductory economics course at Reed College. The author finds that having dorm mates who are currently taking the class seems to have some benefit for students, but there is no evidence of benefit from having coresident students who have previously completed the class.

Modeling Performance on Collaborative Homework Projects

This paper investigates the determinants of grades on homework projects performed by assigned pairs of students in an undergraduate macroeconomics course. The assignment grade is found to depend on the ability of both students and the relative importance of the stronger and weaker student differs in predictable ways depending on the kind of assignment. Male-male pairs earn lower grades than male-female or female-female pairs, conditional on the measured ability of the students.