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Essay 2 picks up where essay 1 leaves off by investigating college outcomes for individuals who enrolled during a recession. While many studies consider the enrollment decisions, little evidence exists on whether enrollment is successfully transformed into completed education for recession era enrollees. Employing an innovative competing risk model, I estimate the completion and drop-out probabilities for individuals who enrolled during a downturn. I find that individuals who enrolled in college at 18 and who experience a recession at enrollment, are less likely to complete a 4-year degree by age 24, are more likely to complete a 2-year degree, are more likely to drop out of college and are more likely to experience inactivity.

Essay 3 builds upon the negative effects of a recession on college-aged youths found in essay 2. In essay 3, I study educational attainment after individuals have exited their college-aged years. I investigate whether cohorts who experienced adverse economic conditions during young adulthood eventually caught up with their luckier counterparts who experienced more prosperous years. I find that individuals who experience adverse economic conditions during parts of the college-aged years (18-21) experience lower educational attainment than those who experience more prosperous college-aged years and these negative effects are still present up to ten years post college-age.