Tyler and others refute Hecker's 1990 article warning that the economy is generating college graduates faster than it is generating jobs. They argue that the 1980s labor market successfully absorbed new college graduates. Hecker expresses concerns over their analysis. (SK)

Examines effects of cohort size on starting salaries of college graduates from different areas of study. Increases in the size of graduating classes relative to the population depress their starting salaries relative to other workers. Smallest negative cohort size effects are found for engineering and business graduates, while the largest are…

Using alternative models, wage and job competition predict different outcomes for an exogenous increase in supplies of educated labor. Regression studies based on the models account for very little variability in wages of new labor market entrants in 1966-1976. (Author/MSE)

An analysis is made in this speech of the rates of return on investments in higher education. Results indicate that the annual rates of return are higher in every year (1961-75) than the 10 percent realized on business investments. On the basis of the evidence presented, it is concluded that Americans are not overeducated. The trends in student…

Previous research related to the economics of higher education has devoted virtually no attention to the economic return for different disciplines or fields of study. The present study examines the relationship between cost and economic return for undergraduate programs of study at one large public institution, the University of Illinois. In the…