IMPACT OF A TERTIARY ELIGIBILITY THRESHOLD ON TERTIARY EDUCATION AND EARNINGS: A DISCONTINUITY APPROACH

This study uses a discontinuity in the Swedish tertiary eligibility requirement to estimate the probability of enrolling in tertiary education, and the payoff thereof. Regression discontinuity results, show that achieving tertiary eligibility in upper-secondary education, increases the probability of enrolling in tertiary education by around 10–15 and 7 percentage points for students who enrolled on an academic and vocational track, respectively. For academic students, this implies 5% higher earnings for men, while for women it increases the probability of having positive incomes by 2%. Thus, academic students at the margin of tertiary education receive a substantial tertiary education payoff. (JEL I21, I26, I28)