Impacts of State Aid for Non-Traditional Students

Do tuition vouchers and cash subsidies promote educational or labor force outcomes for “non-traditional” students? The author uses a regression discontinuity design to estimate the impacts of a state aid program with an unobserved eligibility cutoff. Eligibility has no impact on degree completion for students with a preference for community colleges or four-year colleges but increases bachelor’s degrees for students interested in large, for profit colleges by four percentage points. He also finds no impact on in-state employment or earnings for all applicants. This research highlights challenges in promoting human capital investment for adults.