College Student Employment and Persistence in Postsecondary Education: Evidence of Effect Heterogeneity of Student Employment on College Dropout Rates

Yool Choi, University of California, Los Angeles

In this study, using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth from 1997, I will explore how college student employment affects dropout rates and how these effects differ by the likelihood that individual will participate in the student labor market. First, by considering pre-existing heterogeneity, I propose to examine the relationship between college student employment and dropout using propensity score matching. Second, by utilizing complex counterfactuals (intense work vs. moderate work vs. no work), I aim to explore how the effect of work intensity on dropout varies. Third, by using the Stratification multilevel and Smoothing-differencing models I seek to examine evidence of treatment effect heterogeneity of student employment on college dropout rates. The critical point of this study is that the effect of employment on dropout is heterogeneous depending on not only work intensity but also the individual’s propensity to work outside of school.