Light, Audrey, and Wayne Strayer. 2004. "Who Receives the College Wage Premium? Assessing the Labor Market Returns to Degrees and College Transfer Patterns." Journal of Human Resources 39(3): 746-773.

Using data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we estimate wage models in which college-educated workers are classified according to their degree attainment, college type, and college transfer status. The detailed taxonomy produces modest improvements in explanatory power relative to standard specifications, and reveals considerable heterogeneity in the predicted wages of college-educated workers. We find that transfer students receive an “indirect” wage benefit insofar as changing colleges allows them to earn a degree. Some transfer students receive an additional “direct” wage benefit, presumably because switching schools increases their skill investment opportunities.

Audrey Light is an associate professor of economics at Ohio State University. Wayne Strayer is an economist at Welch Consulting. We received financial support for this research from the Spencer Foundation and the American Educational Research Association, which receives funds for its AERA Grants Program from the National Center for Education Statistics, the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (U.S. Department of Education), and the National Science Foundation under NSF Grant #REC-9980573. Opinions reflect those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the granting agencies. The data contained in this article may be obtained between January 2005 and December 2008 from Audrey Light, Department of Economics, Ohio State University, 410 Arps Hall, 1945 North High Street, Columbus OH 43210.