Individuals are linked to information from the Colorado
Department of Higher Education which covers individuals’lifetime college attendance at public institutions in Colorado
including program of study, cost of attendance, financial aid,
and credit and credential receipt. I convert semesters attended
to quarters, with the fall semester corresponding
with the fourth quarter, winter/spring semester corresponding
to first and second quarters, and the summer semester
corresponding to the third quarter of a year. My sample includes
the small number of women who attended four-year
institutions, either prior to or following welfare receipt, although
my results are robust to excluding these individuals.
Finally, sample members are matched to data on quarterly
earnings and employment in all covered sectors from the Colorado
Department of Labor for the 29 quarters between the
third quarter of 2003 and the fourth quarter of 2010, resulting
in 857,124 person by quarter observations