28

TAB

LE 1

: USN

WR

Col

lege

Ran

king

Alg

orith

m (1

990)

Cat

egor

yW

eigh

tD

etai

led

mea

sure

s

Aca

dem

ic R

eput

atio

n 25

%[R

espo

nses

from

Sur

vey

of C

olle

ge P

resi

dent

s Con

duct

ed B

y U

SNW

R]

Stud

ent S

elec

tivity

25

%A

ccep

tanc

e R

ate,

Y

ield

Rat

e,

Hig

h Sc

hool

Cla

ss S

tand

ing,

A

vera

ge S

AT/

AC

T Sc

ore

Facu

lty Q

ualit

y 25

%St

uden

t-Fac

ulty

Rat

io,

Perc

enta

ge o

f Fac

ulty

with

Ph.

D.,

Perc

enta

ge o

f Par

t-Tim

e Fa

culty

, A

vera

ge sa

lary

of T

enur

ed F

ull P

rofe

ssor

s

Fina

ncia

l Res

ourc

es

20%

Tota

l Edu

catio

n an

d G

ener

al E

xpen

ditu

res

Stud

ent S

atis

fact

ion

5%G

radu

atio

n R

ate

Not

e: S

ourc

e: U

SNW

R m

agaz

ine

issu

e O

ct. 1

5, 1

990.

The

USN

WR

impl

emen

ts so

me

min

or d

iffer

ence

s in

the

rank

ing

algo

rithm

and

the

regi

onal

alg

orith

m.

This

tabl

e re

flect

s the

nat

iona

l alg

orith

m.

Gra

duat

ion

rate

per

form

ance

refe

rs to

the

diff

eren

ce b

etw

een

actu

al g

radu

atio

n ra

te a

nd th

e gr

adua

te ra

te p

redi

cted

by

stud

ent S

AT

scor

es.

29

TABLE 2: Public College Characteristics, by USNWR Ranking Inclusion Status

Added -In

Previous-In

Never-In

(1)-(2)t-stat

[p-value]

(1)-(3)t-stat

[p-value] (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

(1) Levels of Outcome Variables (1989):Total Main Expense 7273

(236)7165(457)

5141(105)

0.33[0.743]

9.74[0.000]

State Appropriation Revenue 6156 (251)

6164(368)

4306(125)

0.10[0.987]

7.28[0.000]

Tuition and Fee Revenue 2408 (99)

2080(163)

1656(38)

1.71[0.090]

8.65[0.000]

(2) Trends in Outcome Variables (1987 to 1989):Percent Change in Total Main Expense

0.11(0.01)

0.11(0.02)

0.09(0.01)

0.30[0.771]

1.43[0.152]

Percent Change State Appropriation Revenue

0.08(0.01)

0.12(0.02)

0.07(0.01)

1.77[0.078]

0.66[0.507]

Percent Change Tuition and Fee Revenue

0.16(0.01)

0.15(0.02)

0.16(0.01)

0.26[0.697]

0.24[0.814]

(3) College Characteristics (1989):Enrollment (FTE) 17059

(758)13842(1733)

5253(226)

1.97[0.051]

19.78[0.000]

Flagship College 0.37 (0.05)

0.18(0.06)

0(0)

1.44[0.026]

12.71[0.000]

National College 1 (0)

0.23(0.07)

0(0)

19.51[0.000]

--

Barron’s Guide 1989 Ranking 6.65 (0.13)

5.35(0.29)

7.62(0.07)

4.66[0.000]

7.91[0.000]

(4) State Characteristics (1989):Pre-College Age Population Share 0.056

(0.001)0.053(0.01)

0.056(0.000)

3.54[0.001]

0.32[0.753]

College Age Population Share 0.067(0.000)

0.068(0.001)

0.067(0.000)

1.47[0.140]

0.56[0.580]

U.S. News Newsstand Circulation (per million)

191(11)

184(10)

179(7)

0.35[0.734

0.96[0.337

U.S. News Subscription Circulation (per thousand)

9.5(0.3)

9.2(0.2)

9.2(0.1)

0.62[0.534]

1.34[0.182]

Voter Turnout 0.38(0.01)

0.33(0.01)

0.36(0.00)

3.56[0.001]

1.48[0.137]

Seat Advantage 0.27(0.02)

0.25(0.02)

0.31(0.01)

0.39[0.703]

1.74[0.083]

30

Governor Democrat 0.59(0.05)

0.48(0.08)

0.058(0.03)

1.25[0.214]

0.17[0.868]

Number of Colleges 115 40 281 -- --Notes: Source: Authors’ Calculations using data from the Integrated Post Secondary Education Data System, Barron’s Guide to Colleges 1989, 1990 Census, the Book of the States, Audit Bureau of Circulations, and U.S. News America’s Best Colleges [various issues]. See Table A2 for the data source for each variable.

31

TABLE 3: The Effect of USNWR Ranking Inclusion on College Expenses and Revenue

Dependent Variable = Log (Financial Variable per FTE)

Total Main Expense

StateAppropriation

RevenueTuition and Fee

Revenue (1) (2) (3) Added-in * After 1991 0.032**

(0.011)0.068***(0.015)

0.007(0.024)

Adjusted R2 0.947 0.936 0.920 Number of Observations 3485 3488 3488 Number of Colleges 436 436 436 Notes: Source: Author’s Calculations. Each main entry in the table reports the coefficient for the regression of the relevant outcome on USNWR inclusion in 1990. The standard errors clustered by college are presented in parentheses. All models included college and year fixed effects. See text for details of exact model specification. * indicates significantly different from zero at the 10% level of significance; ** indicates significantly different from zero at the 5% level of significance; *** indicates significantly different from zero at 1% level of significance.

32

TAB

LE 4

: The

Eff

ect o

f USN

WR

Ran

king

Incl

usio

n on

Col

lege

Sta

te A

ppro

pria

tions

: Alte

rnat

ive

Tim

e Tr

end

Spec

ifica

tions

Dep

ende

nt V

aria

ble

= Lo

g (S

tate

App

ropr

iatio

n R

even

ue p

er F

TE)

B

asel

ine

Size

Qua

ntile

-Yea

r Fi

xed

Effe

cts

Flag

ship

-Yea

r Fi

xed

Effe

cts

Col

lege

Spe

cific

Li

near

Tre

nds

Stat

e-Y

ear

Fixe

d Ef

fect

s

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Add

ed-in

* A

fter 1

991

0.06

8***

(0

.015

)0.

053*

*(0

.021

)0.

058*

**(0

.016

)0.

034*

**(0

.010

)0.

068*

**(0

.012

)

Size

Qua

rtile

-yea

r fix

ed e

ffec

ts

NO

Y

ES

NO

N

O

NO

Fl

agsh

ip-y

ear f

ixed

eff

ects

N

O

NO

Y

ES

NO

N

O

Col

lege

-spe

cific

line

ar tr

ends

N

O

NO

N

O

YES

N

O

Stat

e-ye

ar fi

xed

effe

cts

NO

N

O

NO

N

O

YES

A

djus

ted

R2

0.93

6 0.

937

0.93

6 0.

139

0.96

6 N

umbe

r of O

bser

vatio

ns

3488

34

88

3488

30

52

3488

N

umbe

r of C

olle

ges

436

436

436

436

436

Not

es: S

ourc

e: A

utho

r’s C

alcu

latio

ns.

Each

mai

n en

try in

the

tabl

e re

ports

the

coef

ficie

nt fo

r the

regr

essi

on th

e lo

g (S

tate

App

ropr

iatio

n R

even

ue p

er F

TE) o

n U

SNW

R in

clus

ion

in 1

990.

The

stan

dard

err

ors c

lust

ered

by

colle

ge a

re p

rese

nted

in p

aren

thes

es.

All

mod

els i

nclu

ded

colle

ge a

nd y

ear f

ixed

eff

ects

. Se

e te

xt

for d

etai

ls o

f exa

ct m

odel

spec

ifica

tion.

Bas

elin

e re

sults

in c

olum

n (1

) are

from

Tab

le 3

. * in

dica

tes s

igni

fican

tly d

iffer

ent f

rom

zer

o at

the

10%

leve

l of

sign

ifica

nce;

**

indi

cate

s sig

nific

antly

diff

eren

t fro

m z

ero

at th

e 5%

leve

l of s

igni

fican

ce; *

** in

dica

tes s

igni

fican

tly d

iffer

ent f

rom

zer

o at

1%

leve

l of

sign

ifica

nce.

33

TAB

LE 5

: The

Eff

ect o

f USN

WR

Ran

king

Incl

usio

n on

Col

lege

Sta

te A

ppro

pria

tions

: Alte

rnat

ive

Con

trol G

roup

s and

Tim

e H

oriz

ons

Dep

ende

nt V

aria

ble

= Lo

g (S

tate

App

ropr

iatio

n R

even

ue p

er F

TE)

Bas

elin

eC

ontro

l =

Prev

ious

in O

nly

Con

trol =

N

ever

in O

nly

Con

trol =

R

egio

nal O

nly

Shor

t-run

and

Long

-run

C

ount

199

0 A

s Pos

t

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

Add

ed-in

* A

fter 1

991

0.06

8***

(0.0

15)

0.10

2***

(0.0

24)

0.06

3***

(0.0

16)

0.06

9***

(0.0

15)

0.06

7***

(0.0

17)

0.05

9***

(0.0

14)

Add

ed-in

* Y

ear =

199

1 or

199

2 --

--

--

--

0.

002

(0.0

10)

--

Adj

uste

d R

20.

936

0.95

2 0.

935

0.93

3 0.

936

0.93

8 N

umbe

r of O

bser

vatio

ns

3488

12

40

3168

34

16

3488

39

24

Num

ber o

f Col

lege

s 43

6 15

5 39

6 42

7 43

6 43

6 N

otes

: Sou

rce:

Aut

hor’

s Cal

cula

tions

. Ea

ch m

ain

entry

in th

e ta

ble

repo

rts th

e co

effic

ient

for t

he re

gres

sion

the

log

(Sta

te A

ppro

pria

tion

Rev

enue

per

FTE

) on

USN

WR

incl

usio

n in

199

0. T

he st

anda

rd e

rror

s clu

ster

ed b

y co

llege

are

pre

sent

ed in

par

enth

eses

. A

ll m

odel

s inc

lude

d co

llege

and

yea

r fix

ed e

ffec

ts.

See

text

fo

r det

ails

of e

xact

mod

el sp

ecifi

catio

n. B

asel

ine

resu

lts in

col

umn

(1) a

re fr

om T

able

3. *

indi

cate

s sig

nific

antly

diff

eren

t fro

m z

ero

at th

e 10

% le

vel o

f si

gnifi

canc

e; *

* in

dica

tes s

igni

fican

tly d

iffer

ent f

rom

zer

o at

the

5% le

vel o

f sig

nific

ance

; ***

indi

cate

s sig

nific

antly

diff

eren

t fro

m z

ero

at 1

% le

vel o

f si

gnifi

canc

e.

34

TAB

LE 6

: The

Eff

ect o

f USN

WR

Ran

king

Incl

usio

n on

Col

lege

Sta

te A

ppro

pria

tions

: Red

istri

butio

n R

espo

nses

Dep

ende

nt V

aria

ble

= Lo

g (S

tate

App

ropr

iatio

n R

even

ue p

er F

TE)

B

asel

ine

By

Flag

ship

Col

lege

Ef

fect

on

Prev

ious

-ins

(1

) (2

) (3

) A

dded

-in *

Afte

r 199

1 0.

068*

**

(0.0

15)

0.06

3***

(0.0

24)

0.06

3***

(0.0

16)

Add

ed-in

* A

fter 1

991

* Fl

agsh

ip C

olle

ge

---0

.040

(0.0

33)

--

Add

ed-in

* A

fter 1

991

* St

ate

Flag

ship

Col

lege

is P

revi

ous I

n --

-0

.044

(0

.057

)--

Prev

ious

-in *

Afte

r 199

1 --

--

-0

.039

(0

.024

)

Adj

uste

d R

20.

936

0.93

6 0.

936

Num

ber o

f Obs

erva

tions

34

88

3488

34

88

Num

ber o

f Col

lege

s 43

6 43

6 43

6 N

otes

: Sou

rce:

Aut

hor’

s Cal

cula

tions

. Ea

ch m

ain

entry

in th

e ta

ble

repo

rts th

e co

effic

ient

for t

he re

gres

sion

the

log

(Sta

te A

ppro

pria

tion

Rev

enue

per

FTE

) on

USN

WR

incl

usio

n in

199

0. T

he st

anda

rd e

rror

s clu

ster

ed b

y co

llege

are

pre

sent

ed in

par

enth

eses

. A

ll m

odel

s inc

lude

d co

llege

and

yea

r fix

ed e

ffec

ts.

See

text

for

deta

ils o

f exa

ct m

odel

spec

ifica

tion.

Bas

elin

e re

sults

in c

olum

n (1

) are

from

Tab

le 3

. * in

dica

tes s

igni

fican

tly d

iffer

ent f

rom

zer

o at

the

10%

leve

l of s

igni

fican

ce; *

* in

dica

tes s

igni

fican

tly d

iffer

ent f

rom

zer

o at

the

5% le

vel o

f sig

nific

ance

; ***

indi

cate

s sig

nific

antly

diff

eren

t fro

m z

ero

at 1

% le

vel o

f sig

nific

ance

.

35

TAB

LE 7

: The

Eff

ect o

f USN

WR

Ran

king

Incl

usio

n on

Col

lege

Sta

te A

ppro

pria

tions

: A

ttent

ion

Inte

ract

ions

Dep

ende

nt V

aria

ble

= Lo

g (S

tate

App

ropr

iatio

ns p

er F

TE)

B

asel

ine

Dem

ogra

phic

Po

pula

tion

Expo

sed

Polit

ical

A

ll

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Add

ed-in

* A

fter 1

991

0.06

8***

(0.0

15)

0.07

5***

(0.0

15)

0.05

7***

(0.0

16)

0.07

9***

(0.0

23)

0.08

3***

(0.0

21)

Add

ed-in

* A

fter 1

991

* Pr

e-C

olle

ge A

ge P

opul

atio

n Sh

are

--0.

046*

**(0

.016

)--

--0.

066*

**(0

.016

)A

dded

-in *

Afte

r 199

1 *

Col

lege

Age

Pop

ulat

ion

Shar

e --

-0.0

53**

*(0

.016

)--

---0

.092

***

(0.0

18)

Add

ed-in

* A

fter 1

991

* Pe

rcen

tage

of S

tate

Stu

dent

s at

Add

ed-in

----

0.03

9***

(0.0

15)

--0.

017

(0.0

14)

Add

ed-in

* A

fter 1

991

* U

.S. N

ews N

ewss

tand

C

ircul

atio

n--

---0

.008

(0.0

27)

--0.

037*

*(0

.017

)A

dded

-in *

Afte

r 199

1 *

U.S

. New

s Sub

scrip

tion

Circ

ulat

ion

----

-0.0

06(0

.018

)--

-0.0

76**

(0.0

17)

Add

ed-in

* A

fter 1

991

* V

oter

Tur

nout

--

----

0.02

7**

(0.0

12)

-0.0

16(0

.012

)A

dded

-in *

Afte

r 199

1 *

Seat

Adv

anta

ge

----

--0.

008

(0.0

11)

0.00

3(0

.011

)A

dded

-in *

Afte

r 199

1 *

Gov

erno

r Dem

ocra

t --

----

-0.0

12(0

.024

)-0

.027

(0.0

23)

Adj

uste

d R

20.

936

0.93

7 0.

936

0.93

6 0.

937

Num

ber o

f Obs

erva

tions

34

88

3488

34

88

3488

34

88

Num

ber o

f Col

lege

s 43

6 43

6 43

6 43

6 43

6 N

otes

: Sou

rce:

Aut

hor’

s Cal

cula

tions

. Ea

ch m

ain

entry

in th

e ta

ble

repo

rts th

e co

effic

ient

for r

egre

ssin

g th

e lo

g (S

tate

App

ropr

iatio

n R

even

ue p

er F

TE) o

n U

SNW

R

incl

usio

n in

199

0. T

he st

anda

rd e

rror

s clu

ster

ed b

y co

llege

are

pre

sent

ed in

par

enth

eses

. A

ll m

odel

s inc

lude

d co

llege

and

yea

r fix

ed e

ffec

ts.

See

text

for d

etai

ls o

f ex

act m

odel

spec

ifica

tion.

Bas

elin

e re

sults

in c

olum

n (1

) are

from

Tab

le 3

. A

dditi

onal

Sta

te-L

evel

Inte

ract

ions

are

: per

cap

ita in

com

e, p

erce

nt o

f pop

ulat

ion

with

co

llege

deg

ree,

une

mpl

oym

ent r

ate,

and

the

perc

enta

ge o

f col

lege

stud

ents

at p

ublic

col

lege

s. *

indi

cate

s sig

nific

antly

diff

eren

t fro

m z

ero

at th

e 10

% le

vel o

f si

gnifi

canc

e; *

* in

dica

tes s

igni

fican

tly d

iffer

ent f

rom

zer

o at

the

5% le

vel o

f sig

nific

ance

; ***

indi

cate

s sig

nific

antly

diff

eren

t fro

m z

ero

at 1

% le

vel o

f sig

nific

ance

.

36

TABLE 8: The Effect of USNWR Ranking Inclusion on College State Appropriations: Prior Updating Interactions

Dependent Variable = Log (Financial Variable per FTE)

State Appropriation

RevenueTuition and Fee

Revenue (1) (2) Added-in * After 1991 0.078***

(0.028)-0.022(0.026)

Added-in * After 1991 * Certain Good News -0.025(0.034)

0.009(0.037)

Added-in * After 1991 * Ambiguous Good News 0.031 (0.035)

0.007(0.030)

Added-in * After 1991 * Ambiguous Bad News -0.019 (0.034)

0.087(0.066)

Added-in * After 1991 * Certain Bad News -0.104***(0.036)

-0.018(0.039)

Adjusted R2 0.936 0.920 Number of Observations 3488 3488 Number of Colleges 436 436 Notes: Source: Author’s Calculations. Each main entry in the table reports the coefficient for the regression the relevant outcome on USNWR inclusion in 1990. The standard errors clustered on college are presented in parentheses. All models included college and year fixed effects. Baseline results in column (1) are from Table 3. See text for details of exact model specification. * indicates significantly different from zero at the 10% level of significance; ** indicates significantly different from zero at the 5% level of significance; *** indicates significantly different from zero at 1% level of significance

37

TABLE A1: Variable Definitions, Sources and Units of Observation

Variable Name Definition

A: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), College-level

Total Main Expense = Total funds spent on instructional expenditure, academic support, student services and institutional support functions per FTE in the 12-month fiscal year

Tuition and Fee Revenue = Total funds received from Tuition and Fees per FTE in the 12-month fiscal year

State Appropriation Revenue = Total funds received from State Appropriations per FTE in the 12-month fiscal year

B. U.S. News and World Report “America’s Best Colleges” Issues, College-level

Added-in = Included in the USNWR rankings for the first time in 1990

Previous-in = Included in the USNWR rankings before 1990

Never-in = Never included in the USNWR rankings (during the sample period)

Percentage of State Enrollment at Added-in = Percentage of Students in a State attending Added-in Colleges in 1987 (State-level)

C. Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges Book 1989, College-level

Barron’s Guide 1989 Ranking = College selectivity category (1=most selective, 8=least selective)

No News = Barron’s Guide 1989 based ranking indicates the same quality as the USNWR 1990 quartile ranking

Certain Good News = Barron’s Guide 1989 based ranking indicates clearly worse quality than the USNWR 1990 quartile ranking

Ambiguous Good News = Barron’s Guide 1989 based ranking indicates likely worse quality than the USNWR 1990 quartile ranking

Ambiguous Bad News = Barron’s Guide 1989 based ranking indicates likely better quality than the

38

USNWR 1990 quartile ranking Certain Bad News = Barron’s Guide 1989 based ranking

indicates clearly better quality than the USNWR 1990 quartile ranking

D. Author Collected from College Websites, College-level

Flagship Status = College is the Flagship Campus in the State

E. 1990 Census, State-level

Pre-College Age Population Share = The share of the state population in 1990 that is aged 14 to 17

College Age Population Share = The share of the state population in 1990 that is aged 18 to 22

F .Book of the States, State-level

Voter Turnout = The ratio of number of voters in non-presidential elections to the total voting population in 1986

Seat Advantage = The absolute difference between the number of Republican seats and the number of Democrat seats divided by the total number seats in the House and Senate in the state

Governor Democrat = Whether the governor is a Democrat in 1990

G. Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), State-level & National-level

U.S. News Subscription Circulation = U.S. News and World Report Subscriptions (October 30, 1989) Per 1000

U.S. News Newsstand Circulation =U.S. News and World Report Copies Sold at the Newsstand (October 30, 1989) Per Million

39

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42

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43

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