Budding enrollment: The impact of cannabis policy on US colleges and universities

We examine how liberalized recreational marijuana laws have affected freshmen enrollment and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) major choice using difference‐in‐differences and event study models. Estimates indicate near‐zero initial enrollment growth as schools substituted between in‐state and out‐of‐state students. However, total enrollment increased in later periods as out‐of‐state gains persisted and in‐state enrollment returned to its baseline. We find little evidence of an adverse effect on total freshmen STEM major enrollment.