ERIC Number: ED597106
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Apr-27
Pages: 17
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-
EISSN: N/A
Led by an Invisible Hand: The Unintended Consequences of Tuition Deregulation for Adult Learners
Ryan, Sean; Razo, Demesia; Taylor, Barrett
AERA Online Paper Repository, Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (San Antonio, TX, Apr 27-May 1, 2017)
According to the US Department of Education, adult learners make up 45% of all part-time enrollment in community colleges, compared to only 27% of full-time students. As the enrollment of adult learners in post-secondary education increases across the US, accountability efforts among higher education institutions has prioritized full-time enrollment as a means to increase degree completion. Utilizing a quasi-experimental research design and regression analysis, this paper isolates the impact of tuition deregulation on adult learners at community colleges. Net of other factors, regression results indicate that tuition deregulation significantly and dramatically reduced the share of adult learners who enrolled full-time, and that this effect persisted for at least five years after the implementation of tuition deregulation in 2003.
Descriptors: Adult Students, Tuition, Postsecondary Education, Paying for College, Community Colleges, Two Year College Students, Program Effectiveness, Full Time Students, Public Colleges, Access to Education
AERA Online Paper Repository. Available from: American Educational Research Association. 1430 K Street NW Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20005. Tel: 202-238-3200; Fax: 202-238-3250; e-mail: subscriptions@aera.net; Web site: http://www.aera.net
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Education; Postsecondary Education; Higher Education; Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Texas; California; Florida
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A