Labor Market Effects of Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs: Lessons from Colombia. Working Paper 30178

This paper estimates the heterogeneous labor market effects of enrolling in higher education short-cycle (SC) programs. Expanding access to these programs might affect the behavior of some students (compliers) in two margins: the expansion margin (students who would not have enrolled in higher educa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNational Bureau of Economic Research
Main Authors Ferreyra, Maria Marta, Galindo, Camila, Urzúa, Sergio S
Format Report
LanguageEnglish
Published National Bureau of Economic Research 01.06.2022
Subjects
Access to Education
Employment Level
Enrollment
Foreign Countries
Gender Differences
Geographic Location
High School Graduates
Higher Education
Labor Market
Minicourses
Outcomes of Education
Specialization
Wages
Colombia
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Summary:This paper estimates the heterogeneous labor market effects of enrolling in higher education short-cycle (SC) programs. Expanding access to these programs might affect the behavior of some students (compliers) in two margins: the expansion margin (students who would not have enrolled in higher education otherwise) and the diversion margin (students who would have enrolled in bachelor's programs otherwise). To quantify these responses, we exploit local exogenous variation in the supply of higher education institutions (HEIs) facing Colombian high school graduates in an empirical multinomial choice model with several instruments. According to our findings, the presence of at least one HEI specialized in SC programs in the vicinity of the student's high school municipality increases SC enrollment by 3.7-4.5 percentage points (40-50% of the SC enrollment rate). The diversion margin largely drives this effect. For female compliers, enrollment in SC programs increases formal employment relative to the next-best alternative. For male compliers, in contrast, it lowers formal employment and wages. These results should alert policymakers of the unexpected consequences of higher education expansionary policies.