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The effects of the tax deduction for postsecondary tuition: Implications for structuring tax-based aid

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  • Hoxby, Caroline M.
  • Bulman, George B.
Abstract
The tax deduction for tuition potentially increases investments in education at minimal administrative cost. We assess whether it actually does this using regression discontinuity on the income cutoffs that govern eligibility. Although many eligible households take the maximum, we find no evidence that it affects attending college, attending full-time, attending four-year college, the resources experienced, the amount paid, or student loans. Our analysis suggests that the deduction's inefficacy may be due to salience, timing, and the method of receipt. We argue that the deduction might increase college-going if it were modified in simple ways that would not increase potential costs but would make it more likely to relax liquidity constraints and be perceived as a price change (which it is) as opposed to an income change. We find that households who would be just above a cut-off manage their incomes to fall slightly below it. Such income management generates bias due to reverse causality. We choose optimal “doughnut-holes” that trade-off bias and statistical power.

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  • Hoxby, Caroline M. & Bulman, George B., 2016. "The effects of the tax deduction for postsecondary tuition: Implications for structuring tax-based aid," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 23-60.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:51:y:2016:i:c:p:23-60
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.11.001
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    Cited by:

    1. Murat G. Kırdar & Meltem Dayıoğlu & İsmet Koç, 2018. "The Effects of Compulsory-Schooling Laws on Teenage Marriage and Births in Turkey," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(4), pages 640-668.
    2. Day Manoli & Nicholas Turner, 2018. "Cash-on-Hand and College Enrollment: Evidence from Population Tax Data and the Earned Income Tax Credit," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 10(2), pages 242-271, May.
    3. Caroline M. Hoxby, 2018. "Online Postsecondary Education and the Higher Education Tax Benefits: An Analysis with Implications for Tax Administration," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(1), pages 45-106.
    4. Mikola, Derek & Webb, Matthew D., 2023. "Finish it and it is free: An evaluation of college graduation subsidies," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    5. Kristy Fan & Tyler J. Fisher & Andrew A. Samwick, 2021. "The Insurance Value of Financial Aid," NBER Working Papers 28669, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Dinarte Diaz,Lelys Ileana & Ferreyra,Maria Marta & Urzua,Sergio & Bassi,Marina, 2021. "What Makes a Program Good ? Evidence from Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs in LatinAmerica and the Caribbean," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9722, The World Bank.
    7. Titus Galama & Robson Morgan & Juan E. Saavedra, 2017. "Wealthier, Happier and More Self-Sufficient: When Anti-Poverty Programs Improve Economic and Subjective Wellbeing at a Reduced Cost to Taxpayers," Working Papers 2017-090, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    8. José García-Montalvo, 2018. "The Impact of Progressive Tuition Fees on Dropping Out of Higher Education: A Regression Discontinuity Design," Working Papers 1017, Barcelona School of Economics.
    9. Wiljan van den Berge & Egbert Jongen & Karen van der Wiel, 2017. "Using Tax Deductions to Promote Lifelong Learning: Real and Shifting Responses," CPB Discussion Paper 353, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    10. Ferreyra,Maria Marta & Franco Hernandez,Andrea & Melguizo,Tatiana & Sanchez Diaz,Angelica Maria, 2020. "Estimating the Contribution of Short-Cycle Programs to Student Outcomes in Colombia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9424, The World Bank.
    11. Anna P. Kireenko & Tatyana Y. Krasikova, 2023. "Personal Income Tax Deductions and Demand for Education: Case of Russia," Journal of Tax Reform, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 9(2), pages 145-160.
    12. Miguel A. Ferreira & Marta C. Lopes & Francisco Queiro & Hugo Reis, 2022. "Which entrepreneurs are financially constrained?," Nova SBE Working Paper Series wp647, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics.
    13. Manuel S. González Canché, 2022. "Post-purchase Federal Financial Aid: How (in)Effective is the IRS’s Student Loan Interest Deduction (SLID) in Reaching Lower-Income Taxpayers and Students?," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 63(6), pages 933-986, September.
    14. Wiljan van den Berge & Egbert Jongen & Karen van der Wiel, 2023. "The effects of a tax deduction for lifelong learning expenditures," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 30(3), pages 729-756, June.
    15. French, Robert & Oreopoulos, Philip, 2017. "Behavioral barriers transitioning to college," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 48-63.
    16. Brian Knight & Nathan Schiff, 2019. "The Out-of-State Tuition Distortion," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 317-350, February.
    17. Iriti, Jennifer & Page, Lindsay C. & Bickel, William E., 2018. "Place-based scholarships: Catalysts for systems reform to improve postsecondary attainment," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 137-148.
    18. Lelys Dinarte-Diaz & Maria Marta Ferreyra & Tatiana Melguizo & Angelica Sanchez, 2023. "The Contribution of Short-Cycle Programs to Student Outcomes: Evidence from Colombia," CESifo Working Paper Series 10262, CESifo.
    19. Jeffrey T. Denning, 2019. "Born under a Lucky Star: Financial Aid, College Completion, Labor Supply, and Credit Constraints," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(3), pages 760-784.
    20. Bergman, Peter & Denning, Jeffrey T. & Manoli, Dayanand, 2017. "Broken Tax Breaks? Evidence from a Tax Credit Information Experiment with 1,000,000 Students," IZA Discussion Papers 10997, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Susan Dynarski & Judith Scott-Clayton, 2016. "Tax Benefits for College Attendance," NBER Working Papers 22127, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Van den Berge, Wiljan & Jongen, Egbert L. W. & van der Wiel, Karen, 2017. "Using Tax Deductions to Promote Lifelong Learning: Real and Shifting Responses," IZA Discussion Papers 10885, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    23. Jakob B. Madsen & Antonio Minniti & Francesco Venturini, 2023. "The long‐run investment effect of taxation in OECD countries," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(358), pages 584-611, April.
    24. José Garcia Montalvo, 2018. "The impact of progressive tuition fees on dropping out of higher education: a regression discontinuity design," Economics Working Papers 1597, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Educational finance; Rate of return; State and Federal Aid; Tax deduction; Tuition; College; Liquidity constraints; Salience; Regression discontinuity; Doughnut-hole;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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