Linking College and Labor Market Datasets for Research On the Returns to College

Conference: Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management 2012 Fall Conference
Date: November 9, 2012

This workshop addressed linking college records to labor market data for research on the returns to college. Linked datasets allow for longitudinal analysis of all college students within a state system as they progress through college and then enter the labor market. Such datasets allow for research on students who do not complete college, as well as those who work and study simultaneously.

This workshop provided detailed explanations of how to create these datasets and specify key practical and empirical challenges in compiling them. The workshop illustrated the potential advantages of these linked datasets for answering important research questions. It also addressed issues such as coverage across students and worker types; attrition of students and workers from the dataset; and linkages to other BLS or Census datasets. Examples from a state-wide system with over 180,000 students annually over the period 2001–2010 were given.