Families Post-secondary Education
Topic Post-secondary Education

College or an equivalent postsecondary credential remain the hallmark of “successful” investment in human capital and preparation for a high-skilled U.S. labor market, yet college access and completion rates are highly unequal by race, family economic background, and other demographic indicators. Moreover, the cost of college has skyrocketed such that student debt burdens threaten to make investments in postsecondary education less economically valuable and less viable for lower-income students than in the past. Equitable Growth is growing the evidence base for how postsecondary education serves as both an accelerator of and a mediator of economic inequalities, and looking for solutions that make lifelong investments in human capital via postsecondary education viable for all.

Featured work

working paper

Socioeconomic Diversity of Economics PhDs

Inequality & MobilityFamilies
Boosting Wages

U.S. labor markets require a new approach to higher education

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A college degree is not the solution to U.S. wage inequality

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The rising number of U.S. households with burdensome student debt calls for a federal response

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Diversity in Economics video series uplifts diverse voices and research in economics and social sciences

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Worker power and pay quality for young workers without a college degree in the United States

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Explore Content in Post-secondary Education61

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The problematic returns of for-profit colleges

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Student loans and the labor market: Evidence from merit aid programs

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College and intergenerational mobility: New evidence from administrative data

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Student loans: vehicle of opportunity or trojan horse?

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The impact of need-based financial aid reform on the decision to attend college

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What’s your college degree worth? It may depend on your parents’ income

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How the student debt crisis affects African Americans and Latinos

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Like grandmother, like granddaughter: Education doesn’t change

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What explains the rise in college tuition in the United States?

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An introduction to the geography of student debt

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The pernicious effects of growing student debt on the economic security of young workers

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Why U.S. tax credits and tax deductions for higher education don’t work

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