Higher Education and College Graduates'Cognitive Skills:Evidence from China's Enrollment Expansion Policy
Does the ability of college graduates decline after China's higher education expansion?The answer to this question often becomes the focus of the debate on how to evaluate the effect of China's higher education expansion policy.Using the data of CFPS 2014 and CFPS 2016,this paper systematically compares the differences in cognitive skills among college graduates before and after the enrollment expansion.More specifically,this paper uses the numeracy and arithme-tic reasoning abilities to identify the talent cultivation function of education,and the literacy and memory abilities to identify the screening function of education.The results of cohort difference-in-differences(DID)show that the numeracy and arithmetic reasoning abilities of college gradu-ates have significantly improved after the expansion,but their literacy and memory abilities have not changed significantly.Meanwhile,there is no significant difference in college graduates'cog-nitive skills due to rural-urban differences,gender differences,different enrollment expansion rates,and differences between undergraduates and graduates from junior college.The mechanism tests show that academic competition and the quality of higher education play a promoting role.Therefore,the talent cultivation rather than the screening function of education dominates the positive role of China's higher education in the cognitive ability of college graduates.
higher education expansioncognitive ability of college graduatesscreeningtalent cultivation
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
