CEPA presents: Judith Scott-Clayton

Judith Scott-Clayton

Assistant Professor in Economics and Education,

Teachers College – Columbia University

Since 1964, the Federal Work-Study (FWS) program has provided funds to subsidize the wages of eligible student employees. Previous research on student employment provides mixed evidence regarding the likely impact of the program, which has never been studied directly. I employ a novel identification strategy exploiting the fact that the availability of FWS funds varies idiosyncratically across institutions. I use a difference-in-difference framework with administrative data, comparing eligible and ineligible students across institutions with higher and lower FWS availability within the state of West Virginia. I find no evidence of positive effects of FWS availability on any academic outcome, and significant negative effects on BA completion. Results are driven by strong negative effects for women and traditionally-aged students. The presentation will also include preliminary results using a similar identification strategy with national data.

Please join us for refreshments following the seminar!