Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/35242 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 3297
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We use data from the Texas Schools Microdata Panel (TSMP) to examine the extent to which dropouts use the GED as a route to post-secondary education. The paper develops a model pointing out the potential biases in estimating the effects of taking the GED path to postsecondary education. Lacking suitable instruments that would allow us to directly address potential biases, our approach is to base our estimates on a set of academically at risk students who are very similar in the 8th grade. We observe that the eventual high school graduates in this group have much better postsecondary education outcomes than do the similar at-risk 8th graders who dropped out and obtained a GED. Our model explains the observed differences, and allows for a discussion of the policy challenges inherent in improving the postsecondary outcomes of dropouts.
Subjects: 
GED
dropouts
post-secondary education
JEL: 
I2
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
213.43 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.