Working Paper: NBER ID: w22754
Authors: Joshua Goodman; Julia Melkers; Amanda Pallais
Abstract: Though online technology has generated excitement about its potential to increase access to education, most research has focused on comparing student performance across online and in-person formats. We provide the first evidence that online education affects the number of people pursuing education. We study the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Online M.S. in Computer Science, the earliest model to combine the inexpensive nature of online education with a highly-ranked degree program. Regression discontinuity estimates exploiting an admissions threshold unknown to applicants show that access to this online option substantially increases overall enrollment in education, expanding the pool of students rather than substituting for existing educational options. Demand for the online option is driven by mid-career Americans. By satisfying large, previously unmet demand for mid-career training, this single program will boost annual production of American computer science master’s degrees by about seven percent. More generally, these results suggest that low-cost, high-quality online options may open opportunities for populations who would not otherwise pursue education.
Keywords: online education; access to education; higher education; computer science; regression discontinuity
JEL Codes: I20; I23; J2; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Access to the OMSCS program (C88) | Overall enrollment in education (I21) |
| Access to the OMSCS program (C88) | Enrollment in other educational programs (I29) |
| Enrollment in other educational programs (I29) | Enrollment in the OMSCS program (M59) |
| Access to the OMSCS program (C88) | National production of computer science master's degrees (D29) |
| Access to the OMSCS program (C88) | Demographic changes in education seekers (J11) |