Doctoral Dissertation Research in Economics: The Impact of the Post-9/11 GI Bill on educational decisions and outcomes

本研究探讨了后9/11退伍军人法案的影响，并利用福利扩展的几个特征来研究劳动经济学、公共经济学和产业组织领域中普遍感兴趣的三个问题。首先，经济援助对高年级学生有什么影响？其次，实物经济援助是否会导致个人选择进入更昂贵（似乎质量更高）的机构？如果是这样，这种转变是否会提高受教育程度？最后，有针对性的联邦财政援助的经济发生率是什么（即，大学是否调整机构援助以抵消补贴）？这项研究涉及到创建一个独特的数据面板，其中包含来自国防部的所有近期现役人员的数据，并与来自弗吉尼亚州和国家学生信息中心（NSC）的详细中学后数据相关联。这将是同类数据集中第一个关于军事选择和退役后教育决策和结果的详细年度信息。研究人员将使用差异中的差异、三重差异和回归不连续的经验方法来回答这些问题。本研究旨在对财政援助对个人和机构的影响、实物与有条件的教育现金转移的影响以及高等教育入学定向补贴的经济发生率等方面的学术文献做出贡献。虽然关于助学金对传统学生的招生影响的文献比较发达，但对非传统学生的影响以及助学金和学校匹配对学业成就的影响是一个悬而未决的问题。这将是第一次对联邦财政援助进行研究，该研究同时使用了不同时期和不同州的福利扩大程度差异。除了对退伍军人的特殊兴趣外，这些分析将有助于更好地理解如何定制现有和未来的经济援助计划，以更好地实现他们的目标。理解了9 - 11之后的角色,美国军人法案好处在潜在帮助成千上万的退伍军人,其中绝大多数是第一代的学生,去和呆在学院是评估的关键标志这GI法案将离开原GI法案,六十年后导致大学入学近一倍,在不到十年的时间,和被认为作为驱动力的创建现代中产阶级。帮助个人成功地重新进入平民生活或投资于额外的技能以推进他们的军事事业，对国家安全具有重大影响。尽管这一主题具有明确的重要性，但基本上没有可用的资料。该项目在填补这一空白方面迈出了重要一步。

This study explores the effects of the Post-9/11 GI Bill and leverages several features of the benefit expansion to examine three questions of general interest in the areas of labor economics, public economics, and industrial organization. First, what is the effect of financial aid on older students? Second, does in-kind financial aid result in individuals choosing to enroll in more expensive (plausibly higher quality) institutions; and, if so, does this shift result in increased educational attainment? And, finally, what is the economic incidence of targeted federal financial aid (i.e., do colleges adjust institutional aid to offset the subsidy)? The study involves the creation of a unique panel of data on all recent active duty individuals from the Department of Defense linked with detailed post-secondary data from the state of Virginia and the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). This will be the first dataset of its kind in terms of the detailed year by year information on military choices and post-military educational decisions and outcomes. The researchers will use difference-in-differences, triple difference, and regression discontinuity empirical approaches to answer these questions.The proposed research aims to contribute to the academic literature on the effects of financial aid on individuals and institutions, the effect of in-kind versus conditional cash transfers for education, and the economic incidence of targeted subsidies to enrollment in higher education. While the literature on the enrollment effects of financial aid on traditional students is quite developed, the effects on non-traditional students and the effects of financial aid and school match on attainment are open questions. This will be the first study of federal financial aid that uses both over time and across state variation in the degree of benefit expansion.In addition to specific interest in military veterans, the analyses will contribute to a better understanding of how to tailor existing and future financial aid programs to better achieve their goals. Understanding the role that the Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits play in potentially helping hundreds of thousands of veterans, the vast majority of whom are first-generation students, go to and stay in college is critical in evaluating the mark this GI Bill will leave sixty years after the original GI Bill that contributed to a near doubling of college enrollment in less than a decade, and is credited as a driving force behind the creation of the modern middle class. Helping individuals to reenter civilian life successfully or invest in additional skills to advance their military careers has large national security implications. Despite the clear import of this topic there is essentially no information available. This project makes an important step in filling the gap.