Jess Hoel
@jesshoel.bsky.social
Economist studying labor, gender, households, uncertainty, and the economics of small liberal arts colleges. I get to live in Colorado!
https://www.jessicabhoel.com/
https://liberalartsledger.substack.com/
https://www.jessicabhoel.com/
https://liberalartsledger.substack.com/
Do we know when the ACTS module will be required to be submitted? I'm guessing in the Spring part of the cycle, so the 5 year look back covering data from AY20-21 through AY25-26 would be due in April-ish?
November 13, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Do we know when the ACTS module will be required to be submitted? I'm guessing in the Spring part of the cycle, so the 5 year look back covering data from AY20-21 through AY25-26 would be due in April-ish?
This is a fantastic op-ed. And USA Today!! Wow!
August 21, 2025 at 7:32 PM
This is a fantastic op-ed. And USA Today!! Wow!
Day 18: Back where this thread started.
What I learned about the Economics of Higher Education.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-18-wha...
What I learned about the Economics of Higher Education.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-18-wha...
Day 18: What I learned about the Economics of Higher Education
Over the last 18 posts, this series has followed my new course The Economics of Higher Education.
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 18: Back where this thread started.
What I learned about the Economics of Higher Education.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-18-wha...
What I learned about the Economics of Higher Education.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-18-wha...
Day 17: The Policy Memo. "Write a 2 page memo to convince one decision-maker to make one change next year." What were the students' ideas for my college?
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-17-the...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-17-the...
Day 17: The Policy Memo
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 17: The Policy Memo. "Write a 2 page memo to convince one decision-maker to make one change next year." What were the students' ideas for my college?
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-17-the...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-17-the...
Day 16: The College Budget Project. Suppose that 21% tax on endowment earnings did pass. That would be a nearly $15 million hole in the Colorado College budget. What would you cut to make ends meet?
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-16-the...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-16-the...
Day 16: The College Budget Project
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 16: The College Budget Project. Suppose that 21% tax on endowment earnings did pass. That would be a nearly $15 million hole in the Colorado College budget. What would you cut to make ends meet?
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-16-the...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-16-the...
Day 15: The Enrollment Division had questions and data. My students have skills they need to practice. That inspired The Consulting Project.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-15-the...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-15-the...
Day 15: The Consulting Project
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 15: The Enrollment Division had questions and data. My students have skills they need to practice. That inspired The Consulting Project.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-15-the...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-15-the...
Day 14: Grade inflation is rampant. How has it affected graduation rates? Learning? Does learning in college even matter?
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-14-gra...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-14-gra...
Day 14: Grades, graduation rates, and actual learning
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 14: Grade inflation is rampant. How has it affected graduation rates? Learning? Does learning in college even matter?
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-14-gra...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-14-gra...
Day 13: Why do small schools have DIII athletics? Why do some have DI programs? Why not more of them?
And do athletes do better or worse than non-athletes on the job market? My uninvited referee report of an NBER working paper.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-13-ath...
And do athletes do better or worse than non-athletes on the job market? My uninvited referee report of an NBER working paper.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-13-ath...
Day 13: Athletics
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 13: Why do small schools have DIII athletics? Why do some have DI programs? Why not more of them?
And do athletes do better or worse than non-athletes on the job market? My uninvited referee report of an NBER working paper.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-13-ath...
And do athletes do better or worse than non-athletes on the job market? My uninvited referee report of an NBER working paper.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-13-ath...
Day 12: Financial aid is complicated. Let's define our terms. And: a bit about what's in that One Big Beautiful Bill.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-12-fin...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-12-fin...
Day 12: Financial Aid (and a bit about what's in that Big Beautiful Bill)
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 12: Financial aid is complicated. Let's define our terms. And: a bit about what's in that One Big Beautiful Bill.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-12-fin...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-12-fin...
Day 11: Back to the money: Who donates money to colleges? Why? What can colleges do to increase gifts? Today: Fundraising.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-11-fun...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-11-fun...
Day 11: Fundraising
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 11: Back to the money: Who donates money to colleges? Why? What can colleges do to increase gifts? Today: Fundraising.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-11-fun...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-11-fun...
Day 10: Independent full-class project work day! No post.
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 10: Independent full-class project work day! No post.
Day 9: The total number of 18-year-olds born in the US starts shrinking this year. What will the demographic cliff do to higher education?
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-9-the-...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-9-the-...
Day 9: The Demographic Cliff
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 9: The total number of 18-year-olds born in the US starts shrinking this year. What will the demographic cliff do to higher education?
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-9-the-...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-9-the-...
Day 8: What does it mean to be "tuition dependent"? How much money do colleges get from their endowments? And why can't they use more? Today we take a close look at the financial statements of my college.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-8-fina...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-8-fina...
Day 8: Finance
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 8: What does it mean to be "tuition dependent"? How much money do colleges get from their endowments? And why can't they use more? Today we take a close look at the financial statements of my college.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-8-fina...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-8-fina...
Day 7: It's harder to get into college today than ever before. So who does get in? And why? Did you know that most students offered admission to a fancy school don't accept? Let's talk about admissions and enrollment.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-7-admi...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-7-admi...
Day 7: Admissions and Enrollment
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 7: It's harder to get into college today than ever before. So who does get in? And why? Did you know that most students offered admission to a fancy school don't accept? Let's talk about admissions and enrollment.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-7-admi...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-7-admi...
Day 6: Everybody knows that who you hang out with matters. But precisely how much do they affect your GPA? Up today: peer effects.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-6-peer...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-6-peer...
Day 6: Peer effects
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 6: Everybody knows that who you hang out with matters. But precisely how much do they affect your GPA? Up today: peer effects.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-6-peer...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-6-peer...
Day 5: Formal education is a stupid waste of time and money. A contrarian take.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-5-form...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-5-form...
Day 5: Formal education is a stupid waste of time and money
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 5: Formal education is a stupid waste of time and money. A contrarian take.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-5-form...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-5-form...
Day 4: Is college still worth it? Yes, but it depends on your major, your background, and it's never been guaranteed. And guess what? The college wage premium may be shrinking.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-4-how-...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-4-how-...
Day 4: How much is a college degree worth?
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 4: Is college still worth it? Yes, but it depends on your major, your background, and it's never been guaranteed. And guess what? The college wage premium may be shrinking.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-4-how-...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-4-how-...
Day 3: Why does college cost so much? The leading hypothesis: highly educated workers are expensive. But the story’s more complex, and the trends may be changing.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-3-why-...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-3-why-...
Day 3: Why does college cost so much?
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 3: Why does college cost so much? The leading hypothesis: highly educated workers are expensive. But the story’s more complex, and the trends may be changing.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-3-why-...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-3-why-...
Day 2: My students use AI to analyze text data from Colorado College to understand what our students think is the point of college
AND
The history of higher education in the US
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-1-intr...
AND
The history of higher education in the US
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-1-intr...
Day 1: Introduction to the Economics of Higher Education
A series following my new class: The Economics of Higher Education
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 2: My students use AI to analyze text data from Colorado College to understand what our students think is the point of college
AND
The history of higher education in the US
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-1-intr...
AND
The history of higher education in the US
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/day-1-intr...
Day 1: What will we be doing this block? Start here for a preview of the readings, the guest speakers, the Consulting Project, the College Budget Project, and the Policy Memo.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/my-syllabu...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/my-syllabu...
My syllabus for EC350: The Economics of Higher Education
Ok, it's really the Economics of My Liberal Arts College...
liberalartsledger.substack.com
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Day 1: What will we be doing this block? Start here for a preview of the readings, the guest speakers, the Consulting Project, the College Budget Project, and the Policy Memo.
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/my-syllabu...
liberalartsledger.substack.com/p/my-syllabu...
Please tell me about the papers I missed and should include in next year's syllabus!
I wrote this series so you all can help me do my job better.
I wrote this series so you all can help me do my job better.
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Please tell me about the papers I missed and should include in next year's syllabus!
I wrote this series so you all can help me do my job better.
I wrote this series so you all can help me do my job better.
Interested to learn more?
I've been writing series that followed my new class day-by-day for the 18 days on the Colorado College block plan. Read on if you'd like to go back and follow along...
I've been writing series that followed my new class day-by-day for the 18 days on the Colorado College block plan. Read on if you'd like to go back and follow along...
June 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
Interested to learn more?
I've been writing series that followed my new class day-by-day for the 18 days on the Colorado College block plan. Read on if you'd like to go back and follow along...
I've been writing series that followed my new class day-by-day for the 18 days on the Colorado College block plan. Read on if you'd like to go back and follow along...
Is this just about Columbia, or is the Administration aiming to use this as a way to disaccredit the accreditor, and thereby ALL of the schools they accredit would be ineligible for federal financial aid?
I think the end game here is setting up new accreditors that adhere to new standards
I think the end game here is setting up new accreditors that adhere to new standards
June 5, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Is this just about Columbia, or is the Administration aiming to use this as a way to disaccredit the accreditor, and thereby ALL of the schools they accredit would be ineligible for federal financial aid?
I think the end game here is setting up new accreditors that adhere to new standards
I think the end game here is setting up new accreditors that adhere to new standards