The effect of credit constraints on the college drop-out decision
Subtitle: a direct approach using a new panel study
By: Todd R. Stinebrickner, Ralph Stinebrickner.
Contributors: Stinebrickner, Ralph.; National Bureau of Economic Research.
Series: NBER working paper series -- no. 13340.; Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research) -- working paper no. 13340.
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research
Published: 2007
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 20
Subjects: College dropouts -- Decision making -- Mathematical models; College costs -- Social aspects
Description: A serious difficulty in determining the importance of credit constraints in education arises because standard data sources do not provide a direct way of identifying which students are credit constrained. This has forced researchers to adopt a variety of indirect approaches. This paper differentiates itself from previous work by taking a direct approach for providing evidence about this issue which is made possible by unique longitudinal data that have been collected specifically for this type of purpose. Our results suggest that, while credit constraints likely play an important role in the drop-out decisions of some students, the large majority of attrition of students from low income families should be primarily attributed to reasons other than credit constraints.
Notes: "August 2007"

Includes bibliographical references.

Also available in PDF from the NBER World Wide Web site (www.nber.org).