Research
Published or Forthcoming
Deneault, Christa. 2023. "College Enrollment and Mandatory FAFSA Applications: Evidence from Louisiana." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 15 (3): 465-94. (ungated: pdf; appendix)
I estimate the impact of a Louisiana state policy that mandated FAFSA applications as a high school graduation requirement. I find significant increases in FAFSA completion rates (19 percentage points), and my estimates imply an increase of 1-2 percentage points in college enrollment. There is suggestive evidence that these effects were more concentrated among lower-income students/schools and merit-based state financial aid applications also increased. The design of this mandate implies that pushing students into action may be more effective than informational nudges and that localized support systems such as counselors are important for the success of a top-down policy.
Working Papers*
(Revisions requested at JHR)
Using administrative data from Texas, I track individuals from high school through college to the workforce to determine the effects of local labor markets on selection into teaching. I find that local labor market conditions are countercyclical with selection into teaching. I also show that these local labor market conditions have the largest influence when experienced during high school. On average, individuals who sort into teaching because of poor local labor market conditions are of higher ability (standardized tests) and have higher value-added. Further, poor local labor market conditions drive individuals toward certification in at least one shortage area (bilingual/ESL) and weakly away from general elementary studies. The results are consistent with updated beliefs over employment probabilities or changes to risk preferences such that teaching is perceived as a relatively more stable career path. The findings suggest that local labor market fluctuations shape career decisions well before individuals participate in the labor market, and that increasing the relative economic standing of teaching as a career has the potential to improve the future supply of teachers.
Should States Allow For-Profit Companies to Train Teachers? Evidence from Texas (pdf) (with Evan Riehl) [Texas ERC Project UTD 188]
Roughly half of all newly-certified Texas teachers receive their training from a for-profit company, and these companies are expanding their operations to other U.S. states. This paper uses administrative data from Texas to provide the first comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of for-profit teacher training programs. Consistent with for-profits' business model of offering an easier path to a teaching career, we find that the growth of for-profit programs significantly increased the supply of certified teachers in Texas, which reduced school districts' reliance on uncertified teachers. Yet for-profit-trained teachers have higher turnover rates and slightly lower value-added than teachers from other certification routes, consistent with concerns about the quality of for-profit programs. To examine the net impact of these supply and quality mechanisms, we exploit variation in geographic concentration of for-profit openings and in the grade levels at which they produce certificates. On net, we find small and statistically insignificant impacts of for-profit exposure on the achievement of Texas students, suggesting that the supply benefits were offset by the negative quality effects.
Power of the Pill? Re-Examining the Effect of Birth Control and Abortion Access on Educational Outcomes for Women (pdf)
Using the rollout of early access to birth control laws across states and time, previous work has suggested that birth control increases educational attainment and entry into professional occupations for women, likely due to the ability to delay childbirth and marriage (Goldin and Katz, 2002; Hock et al., 2007; Bailey et al., 2012). I revisit this work using newly defined legal coding and heterogeneous robust estimators to determine whether reproductive control has an effect on educational outcomes for women. With American Community Survey data, I find the effect of early access to birth control on college completion is not robust to the use of event studies or heterogeneous robust estimators in contrast with other TWFE methods. I also do not find sufficient evidence early access to birth control affects the propensity to select male-dominated college majors. Finally, there are significant pre-trends in abortion laws that question the use of their rollout across states and time in differences-in-differences specifications.
Works in Progress
The Unequal Impacts of Teacher Certification Exams on Prospective Teachers and Students (with Evan Riehl and Jian Zou) [Texas ERC Project UTD 188]
Motivation and preliminary results - pdf
*Preliminary drafts available upon request.
My views do not represent the views of the Federal Trade Commission