州资金削减对公立大学课程设置的影响

摘要

This paper examines how public four-year institutions adjust their program offerings in different fields in response to changes in state appropriations for higher education. Using a shift-share identification approach that interacts state-level fluctuations in funding for higher education with baseline institutional reliance on appropriations, I show that public institutions offer fewer programs in the natural sciences, social sciences, and education, but more programs in other professional and vocational fields, following a decrease in state funding. Program cuts in the sciences are more pronounced at research-intensive universities, while social science majors are more affected at non-research institutions; program cuts in education are observed at both types of schools. Program offerings are not responsive to changes in state higher education budgets at private universities, which provides further evidence that the results cannot be fully explained by shocks to aggregate economic conditions.