Is the Community College a Less Expensive Path toward a Bachelor's Degree? Public 2- and 4-year Colleges' Impact on Loan Debt
Is the Community College a Less Expensive Path toward a Bachelor's Degree? Public 2- and 4-year Colleges' Impact on Loan Debt
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社区学院是获得学士学位的较便宜的途径吗？
DOI：
10.1080/00221546.2014.11777346
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发表时间：
2014
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Manuel S. González Canché
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Manuel S. González Canché
政策制定者和州代表声称，与获得四年制学位的传统途径相比，从两年制开始的学习课程提供了更实惠的选择。如果这是真的，那么在其他条件相同的情况下，获得四年制学位的两年制学生预计会获得更少的学生贷款债务。为了检验这些说法，本研究考察了公立两年制和四年制机构首次入学对完成学士学位的教育贷款债务的影响。应用到官方纵向贷款数据的两种准实验技术（倾向得分匹配和赫克曼控制函数）一致表明，获得学士学位的类似二年级和四年级学生的债务和还款水平相似。在未完成学位的学生中，最初四年制学生的贷款债务高于两年制学生。这些发现表明，就贷款债务而言，最终获得四年制学位的两年制路径并不便宜。因此，将传统四年制学生引导至“更便宜”的两年制学生的举措可能会挤出真正需要在这些学校开始学习的学生。鉴于这些结果，应按照本研究中提出的方法进行分析私营和营利部门影响的研究。
Policy makers and state representatives have claimed that, compared to the traditional path to a four-year degree, a course of study that begins in the 2-year sector provides a more affordable option. If this is true, then all else equal, 2-year students who obtained a 4-year degree would be expected to have acquired less student loan debt. To test these claims, this study examines the effect of initial enrollment in public 2- and 4-year institutions on education loan debt conditional upon bachelor's degree completion. Two quasiexperimental techniques (Propensity Score Matching and Heckman Control Function) applied to official longitudinal loan data consistently revealed that similar 2- and 4-year students who obtained a bachelor's degree had similar levels of debt and repayment. Among non-degree-completers, initial 4-year entrants had higher loan debt than 2-year students. These findings suggest that the 2-year path culminating in a 4-year degree is not less expensive in terms of loan debt. As such, initiatives that lead traditional 4-year students to the “cheaper” 2-year sector may crowd-out students who truly need to begin in these schools. In light of these results, studies analyzing the impact of the private and for-profit sectors should be conducted following the approach presented in this study.