Changes in the Demand for Public Land-Grant Universities: The Use of Panel Datasets

This study illustrates how to conduct a panel data study of the initial student interest or demand for specific sets of colleges and universities. There are 3 major distinguishing features of this study. First, time-series data for the 6 states are combined into a panel dataset, and fixed-effects and random-effects models are used to estimate how selected factors affect the demand for public, land-grant universities (PLGUs) in the region. Second, rather than focusing on enrollment behavior, this study utilizes data on the proportion of seniors in each state who have taken the SAT and had their test scores sent to particular PLGUs within the region as a measure of demand. This formulation also has the benefit of avoiding the supply constraint problem that could possibly affect enrollment figures. Finally, student demand models are estimated for their own in-state PLGU, and for one particular institution (the University of New Hampshire) among non-New Hampshire seniors in the region who have taken the SAT. The results show that most of the decline in student interest in attending PGLUs in the region during the 1990s is attributed to the rising educational aspirations of college-bound seniors, falling (real) family incomes, and falling private-to-public tuition rates.

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