Previous studies have reached mixed conclusions as to the effect of tuition on college attendance Similar to our estimates, Shao (2015) and Bleemer et al. (2017) use variation in tuition at public institutions to conclude the attendance and completion margins, respectively, are insensitive to costs. Other studies have found more significant effects. As discussed in a review paper by Deming and Dynarski (2010), this literature often focuses on low-income or generally disadvantaged students, and the best identified papers find a $1,000 tuition increase (in 2003 dollars) reduces enrollment by 34 percentage points. These various findings may be reconcilable if the decision of traditional students to attend public 4-year colleges is price inelastic, while the attendance decision of marginal students considering community colleges or certificate programs is more price sensitive (Denning 2017). 17 We can test for this potential heterogeneity in price elasticity by regressing the probability of attending a public 2-year college against the average tuition charged by such schools in the individual's home state in the 2 years after they turned 18. Results of these regressions are shown in column 3 of Table 6. This test is analogous to our baseline experiment, shown in column 1 of Table 6. This effect, although imprecisely estimated, is quite similar in magnitude to previous estimates covered in Deming and Dynarski (2010), especially when correcting for the 28 percentage points of inflation between 2003 and 2014. Although not statistically significant, the point estimate of the effect of public 2-year tuition on enrollment at public 2-year colleges is substantially larger than the point estimate on the effect of public 4-year tuition on attendance at public 4-year universities Tuition may also affect other educational outcomes, such as degree completion, take up of financial aid, or the choice of major. These outcomes may in turn affect
Previous studies have reached mixed conclusions as to the effect of tuition on college attendance
Similar to our estimates, Shao (2015) and Bleemer et al. (2017) use variation in tuition at public institutions to conclude the attendance and completion margins, respectively, are insensitive to costs. Other studies have found more significant effects. As discussed in a review paper by Deming and Dynarski (2010), this literature often focuses on low-income or generally disadvantaged students, and the best identified papers find a $1,000 tuition increase (in 2003 dollars) reduces enrollment by 34 percentage points.