Does College Level the Playing Field? Racial and Ethnic Differences in Family Wealth Among College-Educated Families

May 25-26, 2016

Hosted by the St. Louis Fed’s Center for Household Financial Stability, the “Does College Level the Playing Field?” research symposium was held May 25-26, 2016.  

Through commissioned papers, the symposium aimed to better understand the underlying explanations of research led by the Center’s lead economist, William R. Emmons, which found that a college degree predicted rising levels of family wealth between 1992-2013 for whites and Asians, but declining levels of wealth over that period for blacks and Hispanics.

The papers that were presented at the symposium addressed differing experiences with homeownership, mortgages, student loans, family formation, inheritances, post-college labor markets and pre-college environments. Links to the papers, recently published in the St. Louis Fed’s Review, can be found below, along with videos of the symposium presentations.

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May 25

• Robert Hopkins, Vice President and Regional Executive, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and Ray Boshara, Senior Adviser and Director, Center for Household Financial Stability, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
  Video: Robert Hopkins' and Ray Boshara's welcome message

Papers

• William R. Emmons, Senior Economic Adviser, Center for Household Financial Stability, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and Lowell R. Ricketts, Senior Analyst, Center for Household Financial Stability, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
  College Is Not Enough: Higher Education Does Not Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Wealth Gaps (PDF)
• Angelyque Campbell, Manager, Policy Analysis, Federal Reserve Board
  Why Does Wealth Vary Among College Graduates? (PDF)
• Su Jin Jez, Associate Professor, Public Policy and Administration, Sacramento State University
  Not All College Is Equal When It Comes to Wealth and Race (PDF)
• Eric Rodriguez, Vice President, Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation, National Council of La Raza (NCLR)
  Addressing the Wealth Gap for Hispanic Families (PDF)

Videos

• Why Does Wealth Vary among College Graduates? — William R. Emmons
• Panel Discussion
• Q and A Session

May 26

Papers

• Darrick Hamilton, Associate Professor of Economics and Urban Policy, The New School, and William A. Darity Jr., Samuel DuBois Cook Professor of Public Policy, Duke University
  The Political Economy of Education, Financial Literacy, and the Racial Wealth Gap (PDF)
• Cory Koedel, Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy, University of Missouri-Columbia
  Explaining Black-White Differences in College Outcomes at Missouri Public Universities (PDF)

Videos

• Moderator: Sol Carbonell, Assistant Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
• The Pre- and Post-College Experience — Darrick Hamilton
• The Pre- and Post-College Experience — Cory Koedel
• Discussant: Mark Huelsman, Senior Policy Analyst, Demos
• Q and A Session

Paper

• Robert I. Lerman, Institute Fellow, Urban Institute
  Do Family Structure Differences Explain Trends in Wealth Differentials? (PDF)

Videos

• Changes in Family Structure — Robert I. Lerman
• Changes in Family Structure — George-Levi Gayle
• Q and A Session

Videos and transcripts:

• Keynote Conversation Part 1 — William A. 'Sandy' Darity and Ray Boshara
• Keynote Conversation Part 2 — William A. 'Sandy' Darity and Ray Boshara

Paper

• Carlos Garriga, Assistant Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Don Schlagenhauf, Economist, Center for Household Financial Stability, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and Lowell R. Ricketts, Senior Analyst, Center for Household Financial Stability, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
  The Homeownership Experience of Minorities During the Great Recession (PDF)

Videos

• The Homeownership and Mortgages Experiences — Lowell R. Ricketts
• The Homeowner and Mortgate Experiences — Stephen L. Ross, Professor of Economics, University of Connecticut, 
• Q and A session

Paper

• Thomas M. Shapiro, Director, Institute on Assets and Social Policy, Brandeis University, and Tatjana Meschede, Scientist and Senior Lecturer, Brandeis University
  “Family Achievements?”: How a College Degree Accumulates Wealth for Whites and Not For Blacks (PDF)

Videos

• The Role of Inheritances and Family Transfers — Thomas M. Shapiro and Tatjana Meschede
• The Role of Inheritances and Family Transfers — Darrick Hamilton
• Q and A Session

• Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Director, Racial Wealth Divide Initiative, CFED; Maxine Clark, CEO, Clark Fox Family Foundationl; and Kilolo Kijakazi, Institute Fellow, Urban Institute
• Closing Reflection, Moving Forward - Panel Discussion video
• Closing Reflection, Moving Forward - Q and A Session video