{"id":32904,"date":"2024-06-05T14:00:25","date_gmt":"2024-06-05T06:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/?p=32904"},"modified":"2024-01-25T09:19:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T01:19:03","slug":"the-returns-to-an-additional-year-of-education-for-college-graduates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/2024\/06\/05\/the-returns-to-an-additional-year-of-education-for-college-graduates\/","title":{"rendered":"The returns to an additional year of education for college graduates"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cvlnf\" data-offset-key=\"2qetb-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"2qetb-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"2qetb-0-0\">As the academic year comes to a close, final-year undergraduate students find themselves at a crossroads \u2013 having to decide between pursuing graduate education, securing a job, or exploring other paths. Some third-year students might even forgo the fourth year of undergraduate education due to personal reasons or due to ineligibility to continue in the programme. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cvlnf\" data-offset-key=\"7o66p-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"7o66p-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"7o66p-0-0\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cvlnf\" data-offset-key=\"fje0b-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"fje0b-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"fje0b-0-0\">In the study, \u2018The returns to an additional year of education for college graduates\u2019 (<em>Journal of Public Economics<\/em>, 2023), Professor Jessica Pan (NUS Economics) and Associate Professor Jie Gong (HKU Business School) assess the benefits associated with pursuing an extra year of undergraduate education for students who will graduate with a bachelor\u2019s degree. The study is done using a regression discontinuity design, capitalising on the grade-based requirement for students in certain faculties to progress into their fourth (or honours) year. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cvlnf\" data-offset-key=\"63q1-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"63q1-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"63q1-0-0\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cvlnf\" data-offset-key=\"e46iu-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"e46iu-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"e46iu-0-0\">Through evaluating datasets provided by the National University of Singapore, including a combination of administrative student records and survey data on earnings, Prof. Pan and A\/P Gong find that students with grades that just exceed the threshold for progressing to the honours year have a significantly higher likelihood of completing that year. As a result, these students experience higher post-graduation earnings as compared to those who narrowly miss the grade requirement. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cvlnf\" data-offset-key=\"1aohv-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"1aohv-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"1aohv-0-0\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cvlnf\" data-offset-key=\"8rpps-0-0\">\n<div class=\"_1mf _1mj\" data-offset-key=\"8rpps-0-0\"><span data-offset-key=\"8rpps-0-0\">The estimated earnings return to the additional year of undergraduate education stands at approximately 12% six months after graduation. Furthermore, an examination of the administrative tax data also shows sustained growth in earnings for at least four years after graduation. Prof. Pan and A\/P Gong also find that the difference in return remains even after the university reduces this grades-based threshold. The study\u2019s findings thus provide insights into how universities ought to structure their education policies to improve students\u2019 labour market prospects and reap the economic benefits of being university graduates.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"\" data-block=\"true\" data-editor=\"cvlnf\" data-offset-key=\"ivbn-0-0\"><\/div>\n<p>Read the article here: <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jpubeco.2022.104796\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jpubeco.2022.104796<\/a><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_32906\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32906\" style=\"width: 2560px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-32906 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2024\/04\/iStock-468706304-scaled-e1704694541358.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2024\/04\/iStock-468706304-scaled-e1704694541358.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2024\/04\/iStock-468706304-scaled-e1704694541358-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2024\/04\/iStock-468706304-scaled-e1704694541358-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2024\/04\/iStock-468706304-scaled-e1704694541358-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2024\/04\/iStock-468706304-scaled-e1704694541358-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2024\/04\/iStock-468706304-scaled-e1704694541358-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32906\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: iStock\/kittijaroon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the academic year comes to a close, final-year undergraduate students find themselves at a crossroads \u2013 having to decide between pursuing graduate education, securing a job, or exploring other paths. Some third-year students might even forgo the fourth year of undergraduate education due to personal reasons or due to ineligibility to continue in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":278,"featured_media":32906,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4540,4606,4609,4604],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economics","category-research","category-singapore-research-nexus","category-visible"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/278"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32904"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32939,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32904\/revisions\/32939"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}