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KDI 경제교육·정보센터

ENG
  • 경제배움
  • Economic

    Information

    and Education

    Center

국제무역
Frontier Knowledge in College and Student Success
NBER
2026.09.22
We study whether exposure to frontier knowledge in college affects student outcomes. Combining 459,415 syllabi from seven Texas public universities with 107 million publications and linked student records, we measure each course’s proximity to recent versus older research in its field. Exploiting syllabus updates unobserved at enrollment, we find that frontier exposure increases completion, GPA, graduate-school attendance, and earnings, and reduces time-to-degree. Completion, GPA, and progression gains are broad, while graduate-school and earnings returns are larger for students with stronger preparation and family resources. The evidence suggests two mechanisms: frontier content keeps students engaged, and sustained exposure builds labor-market skills.