Seeking STEM: The Causal Impact of Need-Based Grant Aid on Undergraduates’ Field of Study

References

• 117th Congress. (2021). United States innovation and competition act of 2021. S. 1260.
   Google Scholar
• Altonji, J., Arcidiacono, P., & Maurel, A. (2016). The analysis of field choice in college and graduate school: Determinants and wage effects. In S. Hanushek & L. Woessmann (Eds.), Handbook of the economics of education (Vol. 5, pp. 305–396). Elsevier.
   Google Scholar
• Altonji, J., Blom, E., & Meghir, C. (2012). Heterogeneity in human capital investments: High school curriculum, college major, and careers. Annual Review of Economics, 4(1), 185–223. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-080511-110908
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• American Institute of Physics. (2020). FY21 budget outlook: STEM education. Science Policy News, AIP Bulletin. https://www.aip.org/fyi/2020/fy21-budget-outlook-stem-education
   Google Scholar
• Anderson, D. M. (2020). When financial aid is scarce: The challenge of allocating college aid where it is needed most. Journal of Public Economics, 190, 104253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104253
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Anderson, D. M., Broton, K., Goldrick-Rab, S., & Kelchen, R. (2020). Experimental evidence on the impacts of need-based financial aid: Longitudinal assessment of the Wisconsin Scholars Grant. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 39(3), 720–739. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22190
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Anderson, D. M., & Zaber, M. (2021). Cutting the college price TAG: The effects of New Jersey’s tuition aid grant on college persistence and completion. RAND Report RRA101-1.
   Google Scholar
• Arcidiacono, P. (2004). Ability sorting and the returns to college major. Journal of Econometrics, 121(1), 343–375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2003.10.010
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Arcidiacono, P., Hotz, V., & Kang, S. (2012). Modeling college major choices using elicited measures of expectations and counterfactuals. Journal of Econometrics, 166(1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2011.06.002
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Astin, A. (1993). What matters in college: Four critical years revisited. Jossey-Bass.
   Google Scholar
• Babcock, P., & Marks, M. (2011). The falling time cost of college: Evidence from half a century of time use data. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 93(2), 468–478. https://doi.org/10.1162/REST_a_00093
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Berger, M. (1988). Predicted future earnings and choice of college major. Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 41(3), 418–429. https://doi.org/10.1177/001979398804100306
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bettinger, E., Gurantz, O., Kawano, L., & Sacerdote, B. (2016). The long run impacts of merit aid: Evidence from California’s cal grant. Working Paper No. 22347. National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w22347
   Google Scholar
• Bobbitt-Zeher, D. (2007). The gender income gap and the role of education. Sociology of Education, 80(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/003804070708000101
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste. Routledge.
   Google Scholar
• Brint, S., & Cantwell, A. (2010). Undergraduate time use and academic outcomes: Results from the university of California undergraduate experience survey 2006. Teachers College Record, 112(9), 2441–2470. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811011200908
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Broton, K. (2020, February 20). Personal communication with dean. College of Engineering, University of Iowa.
   Google Scholar
• Broton, K., Goldrick-Rab, S., & Benson, J. (2016). Working for college: The causal impacts of financial grants on undergraduate employment. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 38(3), 477–494. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373716638440
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Business Roundtable. (2017). Business roundtable welcomes administration’s focus on STEM education, computer science. https://www.businessroundtable.org/media/news-releases/business-roundtable-welcomes-administration%E2%80%99s-focus-stem-education-computer
   Google Scholar
• Camera, L. (2017, May 25). Low-income students nowhere to be found in STEM. U.S. News and World Report. https://www.usnews.com/news/stem-solutions/articles/2017-05-25/low-income-students-nowhere-to-be-found-in-stem
   Google Scholar
• Castleman, B. L., Long, B. T., & Mabel, Z. (2018). Can financial aid help to address the growing need for STEM education? The effects of need-based grants on the completion of science, technology, engineering, and math courses and degrees. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 37(1), 136–166. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22039
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Charles, M., & Bradley, K. (2009). Indulging our gendered selves? Sex segregation by field of study in 44 countries. The American Journal of Sociology, 114(4), 924–976. https://doi.org/10.1086/595942
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Chen, X. (2013). STEM attrition: Paths into and out of STEM fields. National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2014/2014001rev.pdf
   Google Scholar
• Choy, S., & Badburn, E. (2008). Ten years after college: Comparing the employment experiences of 1992-93 bachelor’s degree recipients with academic and career-oriented majors. National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2008/2008155.pdf
   Google Scholar
• Cornwell, C., Lee, K., & Mustard, D. (2006). The effects of state-sponsored merit scholarships on course selection and major choice in college. IZA Discussion Paper No. 1953, Institute for the Study of Labor.
   Google Scholar
• Correll, S. J. (2001). Gender and the career choice process: The role of biased self‐assessments. The American Journal of Sociology, 106(6), 1691–1730. https://doi.org/10.1086/321299
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Darolia, R. (2014). Working (and studying) day and night: Heterogeneous effects of working on the academic performance of full-time and part-time students. Economics of Education Review, 38, 38–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2013.10.004
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Denning, J. T., & Turley, P. (2017). Was that SMART?: Institutional financial incentives and field of study. The Journal of Human Resources, 52(1), 152–186. https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.52.1.0414-6340R1
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Department of Homeland Security. (2016). STEM designated program list. https://www.ice.gov/sites/default/files/documents/Document/2016/stem-list.pdf
   Google Scholar
• DeSimone, J. (2008). The impact of employment during school on college student academic performance. NBER Working Paper No. 14006, National Bureau of Economic Research.
   Google Scholar
• Dickson, L. (2010). Race and gender differences in college major choice. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 627(1), 108–124. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716209348747
   Google Scholar
• Easterlin, R. (1995). Preferences and prices in choice of career: The switch to business, 1972-1987. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 27(1), 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-2681(95)00002-A
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• England, P., & Li, S. (2006). Desegregation stalled: The changing gender composition of college majors, 1971-2002. Gender and Society, 20(5), 657–677. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243206290753
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Evans, B. J. (2017). SMART money: Do financial incentives encourage college students to study science? Education Finance and Policy, 12(3), 342–368. https://doi.org/10.1162/EDFP_a_00199
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Federal Student Aid. (2008a). Payment schedule for determining full-time scheduled awards in the 2008-2009 award period. U.S. Department of Education.
   Google Scholar
• Federal Student Aid. (2008b). 2008–2009 federal student aid handbook. https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/fsa-handbook/pdf/2008-2009
   Google Scholar
• Fiorito, J., & Dauffenbach, R. (1982). Market and nonmarket influences on curriculum choice by college students. Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 36(1), 88–101. https://doi.org/10.1177/001979398203600106
   Google Scholar
• Fry, R., Kennedy, B., & Funk, C. (2021). STEM jobs see uneven progress in increasing gender, racial and ethnic diversity. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2021/04/01/stem-jobs-see-uneven-progress-in-increasing-gender-racial-and-ethnic-diversity/
   Google Scholar
• Gerber, T., & Cheung, S. (2008). Horizontal stratification in postsecondary education: Forms, explanations, and implications. Annual Review of Sociology, 34(1), 299–318. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.34.040507.134604
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Goldrick-Rab, S. (2016). Paying the price: College costs, financial aid, and the betrayal of the American dream. The University of Chicago Press.
   Google Scholar
• Goldrick-Rab, S., Kelchen, R., Harris, D., & Benson, J. (2016). Reducing income inequality in educational attainment: Experimental evidence on the impact of financial aid on college completion. The American Journal of Sociology, 121(6), 1762–1817. https://doi.org/10.1086/685442
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Goyette, K., & Mullen, A. (2006). Who studies the arts and sciences? Social background and the choice and consequences of undergraduate field of study. The Journal of Higher Education, 77(3), 497–538. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhe.2006.0020
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Grogger, J., & Eide, E. (1995). Changes in college skills and the rise in the college wage premium. The Journal of Human Resources, 30(2), 280–310. https://doi.org/10.2307/146120
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Handelsman, J., & Smith, M. (2016). STEM for all. Obama White House Blog. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/02/11/stem-all
   Google Scholar
• Jacobs, J. (1989). Revolving doors: Sex segregation and women’s careers. Stanford University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Jacobs, J. (1995). Gender and academic specialties: Trends among recipients of college degrees in the 1980s. Sociology of Education, 68(2), 81–98. https://doi.org/10.2307/2112776
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kim, C., Tamborini, C., & Sakamoto, A. (2015). Field of study in college and lifetime earnings in the United States. Sociology of Education, 88(4), 320–339. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040715602132
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Krueger, S., & Ward, L. (2020). Assessing textbook costs at a small college. Dartmouth Library Staff Publications.
   Google Scholar
• Leppel, K., Williams, M. L., & Waldauer, C. (2001). The impact of parental occupation and socioeconomic status on choice of college major. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 22(4), 373–394. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012716828901
   Google Scholar
• Ma, Y. (2009). Family socioeconomic status, parental involvement, and college major choice; gender, race/ethnic, and nativity patterns. Sociological Perspectives, 52(2), 211–234. https://doi.org/10.1525/sop.2009.52.2.211
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Matusovich, H. M., Streveler, R., & Miller, R. (2010). Why do students choose engineering? A qualitative, longitudinal investigation of students’ motivational values. Journal of Engineering Education, 99(4), 289–303. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2010.tb01064.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Mervis, J. (2014, June 30). Data check: U.S. producing more STEM graduates even without proposed initiatives. Science. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/06/data-check-us-producing-more-stem-graduates-even-without-proposed-initiatives
   Google Scholar
• Monaghan, D., & Jang, S. (2017). Major payoffs: Postcollege income, graduate school, and the choice of “risky” undergraduate majors. Sociological Perspectives, 60(4), 722–746. https://doi.org/10.1177/0731121416688445
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Montmarquette, C., Cannings, K., & Mahseredjian, S. (2002). How do young people choose college majors? Economics of Education Review, 21(6), 543–556. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7757(01)00054-1
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Mullen, A. (2010). Degrees of inequality: Culture, class, and gender in American higher education. Johns Hopkins University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Mullen, A. (2014). Gender, social background, and the choice of college major in a liberal arts context. Gender & Society, 28(2), 289–312. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243213512721
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• National Center for Education Statistics. (2019). Status and trends in the education of racial and ethnic groups, indicator 26: STEM degrees. Institute of Education Sciences. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/raceindicators/indicator_reg.asp
   Google Scholar
• National Research Council. (2015). Identifying and supporting productive STEM programs in out-of-school settings. The National Academies Press.
   Google Scholar
• National Science Board. (2016). Science and engineering indicators 2016.
   Google Scholar
• National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. (2015). Snapshot report: Degree attainment. National Student Clearinghouse. https://nscresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/SnapshotReport15-DegreeAttainment.pdf
   Google Scholar
• National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. (2016). High school benchmarks 2016. National Student Clearinghouse. https://nscresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/HighSchoolBenchmarks2016.pdf
   Google Scholar
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2017). Education at a glance 2017: OECD indicators. OECD.
   Google Scholar
• Paglin, M., & Rufolo, A. (1990). Heterogeneous human capital, occupational choice, and male-female earnings differences. Journal of Labor Economics, 8(1), 123–144. https://doi.org/10.1086/298239
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Quadlin, N. (2017). Funding sources, family income, and fields of study in college. Social Forces, 96(1), 91–120. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sox042
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Quadlin, N., & Rudel, D. (2015). Responsibility or liability? Student loan debt and time use in college. Social Forces, 94(2), 589–614. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sov053
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Riegle-Crumb, C., King, B., Grodsky, E., & Muller, C. (2012). The more things change, the more they stay the same? Prior achievement fails to explain gender inequality in entry into STEM college majors over time. American Educational Research Journal, 49(6), 1048–1073. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831211435229
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Rodriguez, S., Cunningham, K., & Jordan, A. (2017). What a scientist looks like: How community colleges can utilize and enhance science identity development as a means to improve success for women of color. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 41(4–5), 232–238. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2016.1251354
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Rothstein, J., & Rouse, C. (2011). Constrained after college: Student loans and early-career occupational choices. Journal of Public Economics, 95(1), 149–163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.09.015
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Scott-Clayton, J. (2011). The causal effect of federal work-study participation: Quasi-experimental evidence from West Virginia. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 33(4), 506–527. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373711421211
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Scott-Clayton, J. (2012). What explains trends in labor supply among U.S. undergraduates? National Tax Journal, 65(1), 181–210. https://doi.org/10.17310/ntj.2012.1.07
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Scott-Clayton, J., & Minaya, V. (2016). Should student employment be subsidized? Conditional counterfactuals and the outcomes of work-study participation. Economics of Education Review, 52, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.06.006
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Seigel, D. (2015). Historical ACT percentiles for 2010, 2009, and 2008. Prep Scholar Blog. https://blog.prepscholar.com/historical-act-percentiles-2010-2009-2008
   Google Scholar
• Sjoquist, D., & Winters, J. (2015a). The effect of Georgia’s HOPE scholarship on college major: A focus on STEM. IZA Journal of Labor Economics, 4(1), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40172-015-0032-6
   Google Scholar
• Sjoquist, D., & Winters, J. (2015b). State merit aid programs and college major: A focus on STEM. Journal of Labor Economics, 33(4), 973–1006. https://doi.org/10.1086/681108
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Snyder, T., de Brey, C., Zhang, A., & Dillow, S. (2020). Digest of education statistics 2020, Table 322.10 (Online only). National Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d20/tables/dt20_322.10.asp
   Google Scholar
• Stange, K. (2015). Differential pricing in undergraduate education: Effects on degree production by field. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 34(1), 107–135. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.21803
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. (2018) . State higher education finance 2017. State Higher Education Executive Officers.
   Google Scholar
• Stinebrickner, R., & Stinebrickner, T. R. (2003). Working during school and academic performance. Journal of Labor Economics, 21(2), 473–491. https://doi.org/10.1086/345565
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Stinebrickner, R., & Stinebrickner, T. R. (2013). A major in science? Initial beliefs and final outcomes for college major and dropout. The Review of Economic Studies, 81(1), 426–472. https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdt025
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Thompson, M. E. (2021). Grade expectations: The role of first-year grades in predicting the pursuit of STEM majors for first- and continuing-generation students. The Journal of Higher Education, 92(6), 961–985. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2021.1907169
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Wasserstein, R. L., Schirm, A. L., & Lazar, N. A. (2019). Moving to a world beyond “p < 0.05. The American Statistician, 73(S1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/00031305.2019.1583913
   Google Scholar
• What Works Clearinghouse. (2020). Procedures and standards handbooks Version 4.1. U.S. Department of Education.
   Google Scholar
• The White House. (2017). National security strategy of the United States of America. https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf
   Google Scholar
• Wisconsin Higher Educational Aids Board. (2008). 2008-09 WHEG - UWS program formula. Board Report #08-09.
   Google Scholar
• Wolniak, G., Seifert, T., Reed, E., & Pascarella, E. (2008). College majors and social mobility. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 26(2), 123–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2008.02.002
   Google Scholar
• Xue, Y., & Larson, R. (2015). STEM crisis or STEM surplus? Yes and yes. Monthly Labor Review. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2015/article/stem-crisis-or-stem-surplus-yes-and-yes.htm
   Google Scholar
• Zafar, B. (2013). College major choice and the gender gap. The Journal of Human Resources, 48(3), 545–595. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhr.2013.0022
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Zhang, J., Bohrnstedt, G., Zheng, X., Bai, Y., Yee, D., & Broer, M. (2021). Choosing a college STEM major: The roles of motivation, high school STEM coursetaking, NAEP mathematics achievement, and social networks. AIR – NAEP Working paper 2021–02.
   Google Scholar