When the minimum wage goes up, community college enrollment goes down. But the students who leave may not have been that likely to stick around anyway. That’s the topline finding of a new study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
It makes sense that changes in the minimum wage would affect community college students. According to the research, which was led by Dr. Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, director and faculty fellow of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University, 55% of community college students are employed. And those students are likely to work for relatively low wages: 27% earn $10 per hour or less and 59% earn $12 or less.
Dr. Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, director and faculty fellow of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University
Following an 8% or greater change in the minimum wage, two-year enrollment across all institutions dropped by 4.6%. The decline persisted for the next five years. Part-time enrollees were down by 6.1% and full-timers by 2.4%. There was no significant effect on enrollment at 4-year colleges.
The findings fit with a well-established countercyclical pattern in community college enrollment: that when the economy is strong, students go to work, and that when the economy is weak, students go back to school.
Dr. Frank Harris III, co-director of the Community College Equity Assessment Lab at San Diego State University, isn't surprised by the finding.
“When I think about the profile of a student who’s attending community college part time, they’re more likely to be working adults, they’re more likely to have family commitments, so, every dollar per hour counts,” he said. “If my family needs to eat now, if I have rent to pay now, that increased minimum wage makes the decision of whether to work clearer.”
