We examine the relationship between secondary school attainment and early-career graduate salaries in the UK. Based on literature on grade inflation, we hypothesise that there is uncertainty regarding the quality of the signal communicated by degree classifications, and that secondary school grades can be used as a tool to determine the veracity…

We test for the signaling hypothesis versus the human capital theory using the Wiles test in a country which has experienced a dramatic increase in the supply of skills in a relatively short period of time. For this purpose, we construct a job match index based on the usefulness of school-provided skills and the relevance of the job performed to…

With support from the Boston Foundation, a team of organizations--NextGen Talent, the Boston Private Industry Council, and Burning Glass Technologies--conducted research to assess how well Boston Public Schools (BPS) graduates who attend four-year colleges are connecting to internships and good first jobs, along with the existing capacity in…

This brief is the third in Baltimore Education Research Consortium's (BERC's) "Launching into Adulthood" series, which examines the trajectories of Baltimore graduates over six years. A partnership with Baltimore's Promise and the Maryland Longitudinal Data System made it possible to examine both college and earnings outcomes for…

According to common indicators such as the prestige of vocational education and training (VET), enrolment rates in initial VET (IVET) programmes, or the involvement of private partners, the Swiss VET system enjoys a high standing. In this paper, we took a different approach and examined the effects of educational resources (educational degree) and…

This paper presents new benefit-cost estimates for the Tulsa universal preschool program. These calculations are based on estimated effects from previous papers of Tulsa pre-K on high school graduation rates and college attendance rates of students who were enrolled in kindergarten in Tulsa Public Schools in the fall of 2006. In this paper,…

This brief is the fourth in Baltimore Education Research Consortium's (BERC's) "Launching into Adulthood" series, which examines the trajectories of Baltimore graduates six years later. A partnership with Baltimore's Promise and the Maryland Longitudinal Data System made it possible to examine both college and earnings outcomes for…

This study examines how the "college earnings premium" (CEP)--the difference in average earnings between workers with and without college education--varies across the United States. Specifically, it compares across cities, states, and rural areas the mean earnings of workers with bachelor's degrees to those with associate degrees, with…

Conventional wisdom regards a college degree as necessary for a well-paying job and a good life. By focusing on average earnings, this conventional wisdom obscures the enormous variability in outcomes at each education level; in fact, the top half of high school graduates earn in the same range as the bottom half of college graduates. However the…

Card and Krueger (1992a,b) used labor market outcomes to study the productivity of school spending. Following their lead, we examine effects of post-1990 school finance reforms on students' educational attainment and labor market outcomes. Using a state-by-cohort panel design, we find that reforms increased high school completion and…

In this report, the authors have recently discovered that the increase in lifetime earnings from having a bachelor's degree, relative to having just a high school diploma, is much smaller for people who grew up poor than it is for people who grew up wealthier. This finding that has not been uncovered by any previous research, in part because until…

The data presented in this report provide facts about the extent to which local, state, and national governments commit resources to public education. As one might expect in a nation as diverse as the United States--with respect to economics, geography, and politics--the level of commitment to education varies on a state-by-state basis. Thus, the…

Canadians complete postsecondary education for many reasons, including the desire to improve their quality of life or to pursue their passion. For many, ensuring financial security after graduation is also an important motivation. This report looks at how postsecondary education credentials pay off in earnings for working-age men and women in the…

The data presented in this report provide facts about the extent to which local, state, and national governments commit resources to public education. As one might expect in a nation as diverse as the United States--with respect to economics, geography, and politics--the level of commitment to education varies on a state-by-state basis. Thus, NEA…

This "Economic Insights" article documents the evolution of real annual wages and salaries and employment patterns of young postsecondary graduates by field of study from 2005 to 2012. Results are shown for Canadian-born individuals aged 25 to 34 who are college graduates or hold a bachelor's degree. The data are drawn from the linked…