Study Suggests Housing Bust Could Affect College Attendance

A study published in the October issue of the Journal of Labor Economics finds a relationship between increased college attendance and the inflated home values of the late 1990s and early 2000s. This means that the recent housing bust could result in fewer families’ sending their children to college, speculates Michael Lovenheim, the Cornell University economist who conducted the study. He found the effect particularly strong among middle- and lower-income families.