College Mathematics Beliefs and Belonging Survey
Category: Student Well-Being
Graduate degrees in education provide financial stability for many institutions, yet reformers have sought to decouple teacher pay from these credentials. Without a wage premium, educators may skip advanced study, reducing enrollment at nearby universities. Using a natural experiment in Tennessee, we show that eliminating a graduate degree wage premium for teachers led to a 27% (140 student) enrollment decline in education fields alone, with larger effects at non-researchintensive universities. This drop subsequently reduced institutional tuition revenue and related state funding. We discuss implications for universities, the teacher pipeline, and the broader relationship between state higher education and K-12 policy.
Keywords
compensation reform; difference-in-differences; education policy; graduate education; higher education; Race to the Top; teacher preparation; triple difference; Tennessee
Education level
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/nb29-0t53
