Time Series and Cross-Sectional Investigations of the Demand for Higher Education

This paper focuses on enrollment demand, making use of both aggregate and disaggregate data. In a time series analysis we explore the economic environment affecting freshman enrollments over time. Stratifying by type of school reveals significant differences among institutional segments. In particular, community college enrollments appear more sensitive to financial variables and the availability of alternative activities. To further investigate these differences, cross-sectional analysis is carried out using survey responses from students currently enrolled in each institutional segment. These results, obtained from linear discriminant analysis, show additional, important differences among segmental populations.