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ABSTRACT
Considerable research has focused on the academic outcomes of part-time undergraduates, but few studies have addressed their post-college labor market outcomes. This study compares the post-college earnings of community college students based on different full-time, part-time, and stop-out trajectories during their first four semesters. Community college students who enroll part-time with no stop-outs during their first four semesters earn significantly more after college than full-timers. Part-timers who did stop out are earning at least as much as their full-time counterparts. These effects are evident both among those who graduate/earn 60 credits and among those who do not. Compared to consistent full-time enrollees, two groups of community college undergraduates have significantly lower post-college earnings in the full sample: full-timers who interrupt their studies with a stop-out and persons who mix full-time with part-time and stopping-out.
Notes
1. Readers should note that the IPEDS statistics on “graduation rates” include only students who initially enroll full-time and omit those who enrolled part-time at college entry. Recent publications such as Ginder et al. (Citation2017) that report outcome measures for students who enter as part-timers count graduation rates at the same institution. Consequently, they omit all students who transfer and graduate with a degree from a different institution.
2. Fortin and Ragued (Citation2017) find mixed results for the relationship between schooling interruptions and wages depending on the gender of the worker and the reason for the interruption.