RT @tracewoodgrains: Thrilled to share this one with everyone. In 2009, North Carolina hired analytics firms to investigate whether studen….

Day 18: Back where this thread started. What I learned about the Economics of Higher Education.

Day 17: The Policy Memo. "Write a 2 page memo to convince one decision-maker to make one change next year." What were the students' ideas for my college?.

Day 16: The College Budget Project. Suppose that 21% tax on endowment earnings did pass. That would be a nearly $15 million hole in the Colorado College budget. What would you cut to make ends meet?.

Day 15: The Enrollment Division has questions and data. My students have skills they need to practice. That inspired The Consulting Project.

Day 14: Grade inflation is rampant. How has it affected graduation rates? Learning? Does learning in college even matter?.

Day 13: Why do small schools have DIII athletics? Why do some have DI programs? Why not more of them? . And do athletes do better or worse than non-athletes on the job market? My uninvited referee report of an NBER working paper.

Day 12: Financial aid is complicated. Let's define our terms. And: a bit about what's in that One Big Beautiful Bill.

Day 11: Back to the money: Who donates money to colleges? Why? What can colleges do to increase gifts? Today: Fundraising.

Day 10: Independent full-class project work day! No post.

Day 9: The total number of 18-year-olds born in the US starts shrinking this year. What will the demographic cliff do to higher education?.

Day 8: What does it mean to be "tuition dependent"? How much money do colleges get from their endowments? And why can't they use more? Today we take a close look at the financial statements of my college.

Day 7: It's harder to get into college today than ever before. So who does get in? And why? Did you know that most students offered admission to a fancy school don't accept? Let's talk about admissions and enrollment.

Day 6: Everybody knows that who you hang out with matters. But precisely how much do they affect your GPA? Up today: peer effects.

Day 5: Formal education is a stupid waste of time and money: A contrarian take.

Day 4: Is college still worth it? Yes, but it depends on your major, your background, and it's never been guaranteed. And guess what? The college wage premium may be shrinking.

Day 3: Why does college cost so much? The leading hypothesis: college educated workers are expensive. But the story’s more complex, and the trends may be changing.

Day 2: My students use AI to analyze text data from Colorado College to understand what our students think is the point of college. AND. The history of higher education in the US.

Day 1: What will we be doing this block? Start here for a preview of the readings, the guest speakers, the Consulting Project, the College Budget Project, and the Policy Memo.

Please tell me about the papers I missed and should include in next year's syllabus! . I wrote this series so you all can help me do my job better.