Articles

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Collective Bargaining and Staff Salaries in American Colleges and Universities (with Daniel B. Klaff), Industrial & Labor Relations Review (2003)
Previous studies of union wage effects in higher education have examined faculty salaries, but not...
 

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Policy Considerations for Enhancing Student Access and Persistence in a World in Which Tuition Keeps Rising, Working Papers (2007)

[Excerpt] The United States no longer leads the world in college completion rates. Inequality in...

 

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ILR Impact Brief - College Tuition Creeps Ever Higher — Here’s Why, Policy & Issue Briefs (2007)
[Excerpt] A variety of factors are responsible for the rapidly escalating costs of undergraduate education...
 

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The Economics of Tuition and Fees in American Higher Education, Working Papers (2007)
This paper provides an introduction to the economics of tuition and fees in American Higher...
 

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ILR Impact Brief - The Privatization of Public Higher Education: Can We Afford It?, ILR Impact Briefs (2006)
[Excerpt] Public colleges and universities are in danger of losing their place as engines of...
 

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Program Design and Student Outcomes in Graduate Education (with Jeffrey Groen, George H. Jakubson, Scott Condie, and Albert Y. Liu), Working Papers (2005)
Doctoral programs in the humanities and related social sciences are characterized by high attrition and...
 

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Key Issues Facing Trustees of National Research Universities in the Decade Ahead, Working Papers (2005)

[Excerpt] Trustees of public and private research universities have a fiduciary responsibility to act in...

 

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Inside the Black Box of Doctoral Education: What Program Characteristics Influence Doctoral Students’ Attrition and Graduation Probabilities? (with George H. Jakubson, Jeffrey Groen, Eric So, and Joseph Price), Working Papers (2005)

[Excerpt] In this paper, we go inside the “black box” of graduate education to investigate...

 

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The Changing Nature of the Faculty and Faculty Employment Practices, Working Papers (2005)
[Excerpt] The nature of faculty employment practices at American colleges and universities is changing rapidly....
 

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The Perfect Storm and the Privatization of Public Higher Education, Working Papers (2005)
In this paper the author discusses the various factors which have contributed to a substantial...
 

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Reducing Inequality in Higher Education: Where Do We Go From, Working Papers (2005)

[Excerpt] Differences in inequality in college enrollment rates across students from families of different socioeconomic...

 

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Why Do Field Differentials In Average Faculty Salaries Vary Across Universities? (with Marquise McGraw and Jesenka Mrdjenovic), Working Papers (2005)
Average faculty salaries at American colleges and universities differ widely across fields at American colleges...
 

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Crafting a Class: The Trade Off Between Merit Scholarships and Enrolling Lower-Income Students (with Liang Zhang and Jared M. Levin), Working Papers (2005)

[Excerpt] It is well-known that test scores are correlated with students’ socio-economic backgrounds. Hence to...

 

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Declining PhD Attainment of Graduates of Selective Private Academic Institutions (with Jeffrey A. Groen and Matthew P. Nagowski), Working Papers (2005)

[Excerpt] On average, the typical American citizen who received a PhD during the last 40...

 

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Graduate Education, Innovation and Federal Responsibility , Working Papers (2005)
This paper, presented at the ORAU/CGS Conference on Graduate Education and American Competitiveness in Washington,...
 

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The SUNY Tuition Guarantee Proposal, Working Papers (2005)
In this paper, the author traces the causes and effects of the recent cuts in...
 

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Going Broke by Degree: A Review Essay, Working Papers (2005)

In this review, the author posits that Richard Vedder’s book Going Broke By Degree: Why...

 

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Do Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty Matter? (with Liang Zhang), Working Papers (2004)
During the last two decades, there has been a significant growth in the share of...
 

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Involving Undergraduates in Research to Encourage Them to Undertake PhD Study in Economics, Working Papers (2004)
This paper discusses the reasons for the recent decline in Economics PhDs given out to...
 

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Key Issues Currently Facing American Higher Education, Working Papers (2004)
In this paper, presented at the NACUBO annual meetings in Milwaukee in 2004, the author...
 

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The Future of Affirmative Action, Working Papers (2004)

This paper, presented at the conference on Now What: Affirmative Action and Higher Education in...

 

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Why Universities Need Institutional Researchers More Than They Realize?, Working Papers (2004)
This paper discusses the benefits of universities maintaining and utilizing institutional researchers, citing specific examples...
 

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The Changing Nature of Faculty Employment (with Liang Zhang), Working Papers (2004)

[Excerpt] The last two decades of the twentieth century saw a significant growth in the...

 

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Changes in the Academic Labor Market for Economists, Working Papers (2004)
[Excerpt] American colleges and universities are increasingly substituting non-tenure track full-time and part-time faculty for...
 

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Gender Equity in Intercollegiate Athletics: Determinants of Title IX Compliance (with Deborah J. Anderson and John J. Cheslock), Working Papers (2004)
Using new data on intercollegiate athletes, this article shows that recent improvement in Title IX...
 

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Method or Madness? Inside the USNWR College Rankings, Working Papers (2003)

[Excerpt] U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) shook up the college guide industry when it...

 

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Changes in Faculty Composition Within the State University of New York System: 1985-2001 (with Daniel B. Klaff), Working Papers (2003)

[Excerpt] The last two decades of the twentieth century saw a significant growth in the...

 

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Resident and Nonresident Tuition and Enrollment at Flagship State Universities (with Michael J. Rizzo), Working Papers (2003)

[Excerpt] The recent economic downturn in the United States has led to severe current and...

 

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Why Do School District Budget Referenda Fail? (with Randy A. Ehrenberg, Christopher L. Smith, and Liang Zhang), Working Papers (2003)
[Excerpt] Public elementary and secondary education is financed in many states at least partially at...
 

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Who Bears the Growing Cost of Science at Universities? (with Michael J. Rizzo and George H. Jakubson), Working Papers (2003)

Scientific research has come to dominate many American university campuses. The growing importance of science...

 

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Financing Higher Education Institutions in the 21st Century, Working Papers (2003)

[Excerpt] My remarks today relate to the “Financing of American Higher Education Institutions in the...

 

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Start-Up Costs in American Research Universities (with Michael J. Rizzo and Scott S. Condie), Working Papers (2003)
Our report briefly summarizes findings from the 2002 Cornell Higher Education Research Institute survey of...
 

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Econometric Studies of Higher Education, Working Papers (2003)
[Excerpt] The economics of higher education goes back at least to Adam Smith, who suggested...
 

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The Sources and Uses of Annual Giving at Selective Private Research Universities and Liberal Arts Colleges (with Christopher L. Smith), Working Papers (2002)

[Excerpt] While there have been numerous studies of the determinants of total annual giving and...

 

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Studying Ourselves: The Academic Labor Market, Working Papers (2002)
[Excerpt] The study of academic labor markets by economists goes back at least to Adam...
 

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Within State Transitions From 2-Year to 4-Year Public Institutions (with Christopher L. Smith), Working Papers (2002)

[Excerpt] Within many large states there are multiple 2-year and 4-year institutions. In 1998-99, only...

 

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What a Difference a Decade Makes: Growing Wealth Inequality Among Ivy League Institutions (with Christopher L. Smith), Working Papers (2001)
[Excerpt] The eight Ivy League institutions – Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton and...
 

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Reaching for the Brass Ring: How the U.S. News & World Report Rankings Shape the Competitive Environment in U.S. Higher Education, Working Papers (2001)

[Excerpt] So institutions at all places in the selectivity game are thinking about their US...

 

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Financial Prospects for American Higher Education in the First Decade of the Twenty-First Century, Cornell Higher Education Research Institute (CHERI) (2001)

[Excerpt] In an important paper written for the National Center for Public Policy and Higher...

 

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Has the Growth of Science Crowded Out Other Things at Universities? (with Julia Epifantseva), Working Papers (2001)
[Excerpt] While many faculty members associated with the arts and humanities and the social sciences...
 

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Ivy League Athletic Performance: Do Brains Win? (with Dmitry Kotlyarenko), Cornell Higher Education Research Institute (CHERI) (2001)

[Excerpt] The Ivy League, which consists of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, and...

 

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Paying our Presidents: What do Trustees Value? (with John J. Cheslock and Julia Epifantseva), Cornell Higher Education Research Institute (CHERI) (2001)

[Excerpt] Our study makes use of data from a panel of over 400 private colleges...

 

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The Supply of American Higher Education Institutions, Working Papers (2001)
[Excerpt] An extraordinary amount of research has already been directed towards understanding the behavior of...
 

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Will Trustees Tame Tuition?, Cornell Higher Education Research Institute (CHERI) (2001)

[Excerpt] In recent years, tuition has similarly continued to increase by more than inflation. However,...

 

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Trustees and Faculty Retirement Policies, Working Papers (2001)

[Excerpt] Large numbers of faculty retirements in the years ahead will provide institutions with the...

 

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The Sources and Uses of Annual Giving at Private Research Universities (with Christopher L. Smith), Working Papers (2001)

[Excerpt] In 1998-99, Cornell University and Duke University were ranked second and third in the...

 

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The Class Size Controversy (with Dominic J. Brewer, Adam Gamoran, and J. Douglas Willms), Working Papers (2001)

[Excerpt] When we ask whether class size matters for achievement, it is essential to ask...

 

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Why Can’t Colleges Control Their Costs?, Cornell Higher Education Research Institute (CHERI) (1999)

[Excerpt] Over 30 years ago William Bowen (1967) studied data from a set of selective...

 

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The Impact of U.S. News & World Report College Rankings on Admissions Outcomes and Pricing Policies at Selective Private Institutions (with James Monks), Cornell Higher Education Research Institute (CHERI) (1999)

Despite the widespread popularity of the U.S. News & World Report College rankings there has...