Abstract
Increasingly, undergraduates take more than 4 years to complete a baccalaureate, a situation widely perceived as a waste of time and money, for students, their families, and taxpayers. We first identify several phenomena that result in a longer time to degree and document the frequency of such delays. Then, using nationally representative data from the Baccalaureate & Beyond 1993–2003 surveys, we estimate the relationship between delayed time-to-degree and later employment and postcollege earnings, using negative binomial hurdle models. We find that delayed time-to-degree is not related to employment chances but is associated with lower post-college earnings: averaging 8–15%, depending on the length of delay. This average disadvantage is in line with signaling theory. The unique contribution of this study is its thorough analysis of different types of delay, as caused by stopping out and employment. Contrary to the popular assumption that delay is a waste of college resources or a student’s time, we find that delayed graduation in combination with working full-time during college has no negative relationship to post-college earnings. We discuss the time-investment trade-offs and the implications for the applicability of human capital theory to college graduation delays.
Highlights
A bachelor’s degree in the US requires at least 120 credits, so a full-time student who takes 15 credits per semester can in principle complete a degree in eight semesters
National reporting systems reveal that many undergraduates take longer than the conventional 4 years to complete a bachelor’s, or longer than 2 years to complete an associate degree (National Center of Education Statistics (NCES) 2016a; Shapiro et al 2016)
Using data on labor market participation and enrollment history, conducted during graduates’ last year in college, we reveal some of the mechanisms—different components of human capital acquisition and conditions of a penalty through signaling—that explain an earnings delay-penalty after graduation, as well as the conditions under which these can be avoided
Summary
A bachelor’s degree in the US requires at least 120 credits, so a full-time student who takes 15 credits per semester can in principle complete a degree in eight semesters. A baccalaureate is popularly referred to as a “four-year degree.”. An associate degree involving 60 credits is known as a “two-year” degree. These are exemplary times to degree, . National reporting systems reveal that many undergraduates take longer than the conventional 4 years to complete a bachelor’s, or longer than 2 years to complete an associate degree (National Center of Education Statistics (NCES) 2016a; Shapiro et al 2016). Scholars report that the proportion of students who
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