NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF TANF
Year: 2012

DOCUMENT RESUME UD 035 290 Cox, Kenya L.C. Spriggs, William E. Negative Effects of TANF on College Enrollment.  New York, NY. Joyce Foundation, Chicago, IL. SRR 01 2002 2002 06 00 23p. National Urban League, 120 Wall Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10005. Tel: 212 558 5300; Fax: 212 344 5332;  Descriptive (141) EDRS Price MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. Blacks; *Enrollment Trends; Females; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Poverty; *Welfare Recipients; Womens Education *Personal Responsibility and Work Opp Recon Act; State Policy; *Temporary Assistance for Needy Families This report examines the impact of the 1996 Personal Responsibility Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) on the college enrollment of welfare recipients who completed high school. The report highlights the lower college enrollment rates among recipients in the postTemporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) period and notes the impact of specific state policies toward postsecondary education. Data came from the Urban Institute's 1997 and 1999 National Survey of America's Families. Results confirm that nationally, welfare recipients are attending college less after the passage of PRWORA. There has been approximately a 20 point drop in college enrollment among all welfare recipients, relative to other low income people who are not welfare recipients, and a 16 point drop for African American welfare recipients, over the first 2 years of TANF. Many state TANF programs discourage college enrollment. In 1998, 25 states did not allow welfare recipients to count any time taking college courses toward work requirements. On average, state policies account for 13 percent of the drop in the probability that welfare recipients would enroll in college relative to other poor women after implementation of TANF. There is a substantial and statistically significant lowering of the odds that TANF recipients attend college after the implementation of TANF compared to pre TANF.  In contrast, a woman who earned a Bachelor's degree received $30,487, more than twice the earnings of a high school graduate. It would appear that reversing the negative effect of TANF on college enrollment would be a high priority, and that studying the policies that generated the negative outcome would also be a high priority. This study, by Kenya Cox, a research analyst with the National Urban League Institute for Opportunity and Equality, and William Spriggs, the Institute's Director, finds that state policies that limited TANF recipients' access to college by not counting it as a valid "work" activity significantly reduced the college enrollment of African American TANF recipients. Increased hours spent working also lowered college enrollment, apparently accounting for much of the reduction in college attendance for welfare recipients. The results are robust, even when we control for differences in family size and differences in in state community college tuition costs, there is a statistically significant switch so that women receiving TANF become less likely to attend college. Our findings show it is important for states to have the flexibility to allow college attendance, without limits placed on welfare recipients, and to count college credits as a legitimate work effort, to encourage college enrollment among TANF recipients. One role for public policy analysts is to provide information for making smart decisions, not just politically driven decisions. That is the role the National Urban League Institute for Opportunity and Equality assumes in this report. Passions run high in debating welfare. In this debate, it is best to let the data speak. The early success of TANF in achieving job placements appears easy to understand. If a large share of college ready women were pushed out of attending college and forced to compete with high school graduates for low wage jobs, then of course the TANF roles could fall, and former recipients receive jobs. But, the long run costs of that strategy is a massive under investment in the skills of TANF recipients that will permanently lower their life time earnings, and at a time when the nation suffers from teacher and nursing shortages, perhaps deprive us all of the skilled work force we need. Perhaps more important is the long run effect on the recipients children, because we know the differences in life chances for children whose parents are better educatedbetter students, better health, and the list goes on. Policy makers would do well to understand the full implications of policies, where data clearly show negative effects. Hugh B. Price President, National Urban League