Children from poorer families are much less likely to go to university than richer
families. Two University of Chicago economists have examined the causes of these
‘enrolment gaps’ in the United States and discovered that early family influence, not
family income at about age 17, accounts for almost all of the gaps. Their research,
published in the latest issue of the Economic Journal, suggests that in order to give
poorer children a better chance of going to university, educational policy should focus
more on the role of the family from an early age than on increasing financial aid.
Pedro Carneiro and Nobel Laureate, Professor James Heckman show that short-term
financial constraints – ‘credit constraints’ – do not affect college attendance so much as
long-run factors that are also associated with family income. Families with more money
tend to have children with higher ability and other advantages, across race and sex
boundaries.
‘Ability, and not financial resources, in the teenage years accounts for pronounced
minority-majority differences in schooling attainment’, they conclude. Indeed, they find
that no more than 8% of the US population delay going to college, fail to enrol or fail to
complete college because of cash flow problems. And black males and Hispanic
females are the least constrained groups.
Carneiro and Heckman explain that long-term family factors are the most decisive. ‘The
influences of family factors that are present from birth through adolescence accumulate
over many years to produce ability and college readiness. By the time individuals finish
high school, and scholastic ability is determined, the scope of tuition policy for
promoting college attendance through boosting cognitive and non-cognitive skills is
greatly diminished.’
Specifically, ‘Children whose parents have higher income have access to better-quality
primary and secondary schools. Children's tastes for education and their expectations
about their life chances are shaped by those of their parents. Educated parents are
better able to develop scholastic aptitude in their children by assisting and directing
their studies.’
The constrained ‘bright but poor’ comprise just 0.2% of the entire US population and
can be targeted for financial aid.
Cumulating over all ability groups, only 5.15% of white males are constrained from
college enrolment, 4.49% of white females, 5.43% of black females and 4.33% of
Hispanic males. The adjustment for ability more than eliminates any gap for black
males and Hispanic females. Overall, only 4.19% of the population are constrained
from college enrolment.
The strongest evidence for a constraint is for those with the lowest ability, since richer
but less bright students often go to college anyway.
Financial aid programmes in the United States have already reached a level that has
eliminated the vast majority of credit constraints. Many students facing financial
problems now alleviate them by working while at college, while additional financial aid
tends to decrease working hours but barely budges the number of overall decisions
about post-secondary school education.
Since credit constraints are minimal, educational policy should turn toward improving
the family environment from an early age. ‘Gaps in educational attainment related to
family background arise in many environments including those with free tuition and no
restrictions on college entry,’ Carneiro and Heckman point out.
Other recent research by the authors and others has shown that financial aid increases
such as President Clinton's Hope scholarships do not tip the balance enough to close
the enrolment gap. An estimated 93% of Hope funds went to children who were going
to college anyway. The authors make clear that more tuition subsidies will not close the
enrolment gaps between rich and poor, while policy directed toward families is more
likely to do so.
ENDS
Notes for Editors: ‘The Evidence on Credit Constraints in Post-Secondary Schooling’
by Pedro Carneiro and James J. Heckman is published in the October 2002 issue of
the Economic Journal.
The authors are in the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago, 1126 E.
59th Street, Chicago IL 60637.
For Further Information: contact Professor Heckman on +1-773-702-0634 (fax: +1-
773-702-8490; email: j-heckman@uchicago.edu); or RES Media Consultant Romesh
Vaitilingam on 0117-983-9770 or 07768-661095 (email: romesh@compuserve.com).