Is College Still Worth It: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

May 24, 2018

Welcome

Keynote Address

Susan Dynarski, Professor of Public Policy, Education and Economics, and Co-Director, Education Policy Initiative, University of Michigan
Keynote Address presentation slides

Session One: Is College Still Worth It? The New Calculus of Falling Returns

• Presentation slides: Is College Still Worth It? (PDF)
• William Emmons, Lead Economist, Center for Household Financial Stability, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
• Lowell Ricketts, Lead Analyst, Center for Household Financial Stability, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
• Ana Kent, Policy Analyst, Center for Household Financial Stability, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
• Paper: Is College Still Worth It? The New Calculus of Falling Returns (PDF)

Discussant: Heather Johnson, Associate Professor of Sociology, Lehigh University
Heather Johnson comments (PDF)

Session Two: Ties That Bind? Family Income Dynamics and Children’s Postsecondary Enrollment and Persistence

• Presentation slides: Ties That Bind? Family Income Dynamics and Children’s Postsecondary Enrollment and Persistence (PDF)
• Bradley Hardy, Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy, American University
• Dave Marcotte, Professor and Chair, Department of Public Administration and Policy, American University
• Paper: Ties that Bind? Family Income Dynamics and Children’s Post-Secondary Enrollment and Persistence (PDF)

Discussant: Oksana Leukhina, Senior Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis | Discussant slides: Discussion of Hardy & Marcotte (2018) (PDF)

Session Three: Wealth Gaps in Education

• Presentation slides: Wealth Gaps in Education (PDF)
• Fabian Pfeffer, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Michigan
• Paper: The Demography of Rising Wealth Inequality (PDF)

Discussant: Fenaba Addo, Assistant Professor of Consumer Science, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Fenaba Addo comments (PDF)

Session Four: The College Wealth Divide: Evidence from the Historical Survey of Consumer Finances 1949-2016

• Presentation slides: The College Wealth Divide: Evidence from the Historical Survey of Consumer Finances 1949-2016 (PDF)
• Moritz Kuhn, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Bonn
• Moritz Schularick, Professor of Economics, University of Bonn
• Alina Bartscher, Graduate Student, University of Bonn
• Paper: The College Wealth Divide: Education and Inequality in America, 1956-2016 (PDF)

Discussant: Jesse Bricker, Principal Economist, Microeconomic Surveys Section, Research and Statistics, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System | Discussant slides: Discussion of the College Wealth Divide: Evidence from the Historical Survey of Consumer Finances 1949-2016 (PDF)

Closing Plenary: Responses, and Making College Worth it in the Years Ahead

Featured remarks: Kevin Carey, Vice President for Education Policy and Knowledge Management, New America

Panel Discussion

• Moderator: Ray Boshara, Senior Adviser and Director, Center for Household Financial Stability, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
• Kevin Carey, Vice President for Education Policy and Knowledge Management, New America
• Faith Sandler, Executive Director, Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis
• William F. Tate, Vice Provost for Graduate Education, Washington University in St. Louis