The name is absent

5. Results

Before turning to estimates of the impact of enrollment delay on college dropout
and completion behavior, some evidence that enrollment delay may impact future wages
is presented in Table 2. This table presents the results of log hourly wage regressions for
those in our sample who enter college between 1979 and 1990. Wages are from the job
held in the week before the 1994 interview. Only those with reported hourly wages in
1994 are included in the regression. Column (1) of the table presents estimates which
include controls for gender, race, age, AFQT score, marital status, residence in SMSA, and
dummies for 1994 state of residence. In addition, an indicator variable is included which
indicates whether the individual delayed college enrollment after graduating high school.
Among college entrants, those who delay entry have hourly wages in 1994 that are, on
average, 9.2 percent less than those who enter college immediately after high school
graduation.¹⁰

To see whether the wage impact of delay arises through reduced educational
attainment for delayers as compared to non-delayers, column (2) adds years of completed
schooling as a predictor variable. When educational attainment is controlled for in the

¹⁰As can be seen from Figure 1, delayers are more likely to enter two-year institutions than non-delayers.
Thus, some of the delay impact on earnings may come from the difference in the type of institution first
entered (see Kane and Rouse, 1995). To examine the extent of this impact, a predictor variable indicating
whether an individual first entered a two-year as opposed to a four-year institution was added to the
regression. The estimated impact of enrollment delay on hourly wages, while reduced slightly in
magnitude, remained statistically significant when this variable was included.

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