Earnings premia of undergraduate single and double majors

Abstract

This paper quantifies the earnings premia attained by college graduates with different single and double major combinations per year and in aggregate over an eleven-year period. I use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort to produce a multiple regression model. To attenuate selection bias, I include in my model measures of cognitive and noncognitive ability among other relevant demographic variables. I find that pursuing a second major in almost every case predicts greater earnings than pursuing one of the two majors alone. STEM and Business majors appear to yield the greatest positive income effects, even when ability bias is attenuated.

Keywords: educational economics, college major choice, rate of return, earning differentials, human capital, undergraduate, ability bias

JEL Classification: I20, I21, I23, I26, J24, J31