Impact of Increased Transportation Access on Postsecondary Outcomes: Evidence from Undocumented Students (Job Market Paper)
Abstract: The distance between where a student lives, and where a college is located is predictive of whether a student will enroll in or complete a college degree. However, researchers have not been able to study how this relationship is mitigated through access to transportation because of the endogenous nature of transportation infrastructure. In this study, I explore the effect of increased transportation access on college outcomes by studying a unique population: undocumented immigrants. Over the last 15 years, many states have provided undocumented immigrants access to driver’s licenses regardless of their immigration status. The staggered implementation of these policies allows me to use a difference-in-differences strategy to causally study the effect of driver’s license legislation on college student enrollment and attainment. I find that passage of driver’s license laws increased college attendance by around 2.4 percentage points. However, there was no effect of those same laws on college attainment. Findings suggest that while lowering transportation costs by providing transportation access can help students decide to enroll in college, transportation is not a primary constraint to students obtaining college degrees. (Latest Version)
Education and Labor Market Effects of Being Documented: Evidence from DACA (with Matthew Shaw)
Abstract: This paper applies regression discontinuity strategies to estimate the effect that ineligibility for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program had on the education and labor-market outcomes of undocumented immigrants, aged 30 and older, who were the intended cohort of the failed Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Acts (DREAM Acts). Analyzing American Community Survey (ACS) data that include country-of-origin, immigration-year, and quarter-of-birth information, we show that likely undocumented immigrants who were just age-eligible for DACA experienced a 36-percent increase of their individual wage-and-salary income, a 22-percent increase on their total income, and a 1.2 percentage-point improvement in their employment likelihoods. For a likely undocumented individual at median wages, this translates to a $5,305.45 increase in wage and salary and a $2,048 increase in total income. Concurrently, household and family income show no changes, which suggests attenuation effects possibly caused by the exclusion of older migrants whom the DREAM Acts, the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), or comprehensive immigration reform might have cured. The paper concludes with research, policy, and legal implications.
Effects of State Financial Aid on Postsecondary Outcomes for Undocumented Students
Abstract: While there are many barriers to undocumented students pursuing a postsecondary education, the financial one is uniquely acute. Undocumented students are not eligible to receive federal financial aid. However, many states have increasingly made aid available to this population in the form of in-state resident tuition programs and state based financial aid. While in-state resident tuition policies have been found to be effective at improving the postsecondary outcomes of the undocumented population, the effect of state based financial aid programs is understudied. In this paper, I study the effect of state based financial aid programs for undocumented students across multiple states using a synthetic control approach. These studies findings will contribute to the literature around how undocumented students respond to financial aid programs as well as studying which state programs are most effective at increasing enrollment and attainment rates.
How do Postsecondary Institutions Respond to Appropriations Changes (with Alexis Gable and Susha Roy)
Jensen, B., Mejía-Arauz, R., Grajeda, S., Toranzo, S. G., Encinas, J., & Larsen, R. (2020). Measuring cultural aspects of teacher–child interactions to foster equitable developmental opportunities for young Latino children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly.
"Working to Learn: New Research on Connecting College and Career" (Harvard Project on Workforce, 2021)