Research

Working Papers

College Opportunity and Teen Fertility: Evidence from Ser Pilo Paga in Colombia (Job Market Paper)

with Michael D. Bloem

We study the effects of an increase in post-secondary educational opportunities on teen fertility by exploiting policy-induced variation from Ser Pilo Paga (SPP), a generous college financial aid program in Colombia that dramatically expanded college opportunities for low-income students. Our preferred empirical approach uses a triple difference design that leverages variation in the share of female students eligible for the program across municipalities and the fact that the introduction of SPP should not affect the education and fertility decisions of older women not targeted by the program. We find that after the introduction of SPP, fertility rates for women aged 15-19 years old decreased in more affected municipalities by about 6 percent relative to less affected municipalities. This effect accounts for approximately one-fourth of the overall decrease in teen fertility observed in the years following the program's announcement. Our results suggest that increasing economic opportunities through expanding college access can contribute to lowering teen fertility rates.

Research in Progress

• Financial Aid for College and the Gender Achievement Gap in Colombia

• The Effect of Earning an Industry Recognized Credential in High School on College-Going (with Daniel Kreisman and Alfredo Martin)

• Heterogeneous Effects of Highly-Motivated Peers: Evidence from a College Admission Reform in Chile (with Carolina Concha-Arriagada)

• Career and Technical Education Alignment Across Five States (with Celeste K. Carruthers, Shaun M. Dougherty, Thomas Goldring, Daniel Kreisman, Roddy Theobald, and Carly Urban)

Policy Reports and Other Works

The Effect of Passing a CTE Technical Assessment on College Enrollment (with Daniel Kreisman and Béla Figge)

High school CTE in the Atlanta Metro Region: An overview focused on access and equity (with Daniel Kreisman)