How did the Middle Income Student Assistance Act of 1978 Impact Female College Attendance?

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2010
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Haverford College. Department of Economics
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Open Access
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Abstract
This thesis evaluates the effect of the Middle Income Students Assistance Act (MISAA), passed by the federal government in 1978, on college enrollment and specifically the probability of women attending college. I hypothesize that the act increased college attendance for middle-income students, and that the increase was greater for women than for men, because previously families for societal and financial reasons may have demonstrated a greater preference to educate males. The analysis uses CPS data for 18-19 year olds from 1968-90, and includes control variables relating to Human Capital Theory, the Marriage Model and individual background characteristics. The model examines the effect of MISAA by sex, income quintile and family composition. The results of the regression estimate a 10.2 and 12.2 percentage point increase in the probability of attending college during the years that MISAA is in effect for women in the first and second quintile of family income, respectively. No significant result was obtained for men in any income quintile. This finding adds another piece to the multifaceted puzzle of the increase in women’s college enrollment that has occurred over the last 40 years.
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