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Parties or Problem Sets: Review Article on How College Works and Paying for the Party

William R. Johnson

University of Virginia

Journal of Economic Literature 2017

The potential of Internet-enabled distance learning to transform higher education focuses attention on exactly what residential higher-education institutions do for and to their students. Two recent books marshal detailed quantitative and subjective data on individual student outcomes to document the effects of two institutions and how these outcomes might be improved. Paying for the Party concludes that a Midwestern state university reinforces existing economic inequalities rather than fostering upward mobility. How College Works finds that a northeastern liberal-arts college generally serves its students well and suggests low-cost improvements. These claims are evaluated. (JEL D63, I23, I24)

DOI
10.1257/jel.20151320
Volume
55 (1)
Pages
136-147
Language
en
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BibTeX
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