The Role of Mathematical and Verbal Skills on the Returns to Graduate and Professional Education

Students in majors with higher average quantitative GRE scores are less likely to attend graduate school while students in majors with higher average verbal GRE scores are more likely to attend graduate school. This sorting effect means that students whose cognitive skills are associated with lower earnings at the bachelorï¾’s level are the most likely to attend graduate school. As a result, there is a substantial downward bias in estimated returns to graduate education. Correcting for the sorting effect raises estimated annualized returns to a Masterï¾’s or doctoral degree from about 5% to 7.3% and 12.8% respectively. Estimated returns to professional degrees rise from 13.9% to 16.6%. These findings correspond to a large increase in relative earnings received by postgraduate degree holders in the United States over the past 20 years.sorting; Postgraduate; Rate of return; Demand for schooling; Quantitative skills; Qualitative skills

Gender Differences in the Response to Competition

I use the introduction of a competitive fellowship program for graduate students to test whether men and women respond differently to competition and whether this response depends on the gender mix of the group. Men experienced a 10% increase in performance in response to the program, with the largest gains for men in departments with the most female students. Women did not increase performance, on average, but the response of women did differ greatly depending on the gender mix of their peers, with a more positive response when a larger fraction of the group was female

Returns to Graduate and Professional Education: The Roles of Mathematical and Verbal Skills by Major

Students in majors with higher average quantitative GRE scores are less likely to attend graduate school while students in majors with higher average verbal GRE scores are more likely to attend graduate school.  This sorting effect means that students whose cognitive skills are associated with lower earnings at the bachelor’s level are the most likely to attend graduate school.  As a result, there is a substantial downward bias in estimated returns to graduate education.  Correcting for the sorting effect raises estimated annualized returns to a Master’s or doctoral degree from about 5% to 14.5% and 12.6% respectively.  Estimated returns to professional degrees rise from 14% to 20%.  These findings correspond to a large increase in relative earnings received by post graduate degree holders in the United States over the past 20 years.sorting; Phd degree; Master's degree; Professional degree; GRE; Returns; Graduate Education; verbal ability; mathematics ability

Hierarchical growing cell structures: TreeGCS

We propose a hierarchical clustering algorithm (TreeGCS) based upon the Growing Cell Structure (GCS) neural network of Fritzke. Our algorithm refines and builds upon the GCS base, overcoming an inconsistency in the original GCS algorithm, where the network topology is susceptible to the ordering of the input vectors. Our algorithm is unsupervised, flexible, and dynamic and we have imposed no additional parameters on the underlying GCS algorithm. Our ultimate aim is a hierarchical clustering neural network that is both consistent and stable and identifies the innate hierarchical structure present in vector-based data. We demonstrate improved stability of the GCS foundation and evaluate our algorithm against the hierarchy generated by an ascendant hierarchical clustering dendogram. Our approach emulates the hierarchical clustering of the dendogram. It demonstrates the importance of the parameter settings for GCS and how they affect the stability of the clustering

Master’s Program in Money and Finance (MMF)

The Master’s program in Money and Finance (MMF) is an innovative joint venture of the Department of Money and Macroeconomics and of the Department of Finance, both located in the new House of Finance. The program offers promising students from all over the world an intellectually stimulating and challenging setting in which to prepare for their professional careers in central banking, commercial banking, insurance and other financial services. By being located in Frankfurt, one of the world's leading financial centers and the only city in the world with two central banks (the ECB and the German Bundesbank), it offers unique opportunities for interaction with practitioners. The program is taught exclusively in English; knowledge of German is not required for admission to, or completion of the program. It has been designed with a view to establishing itself as a leading Masters program integrating studies in monetary economics, macroeconomics and finance and a major gateway to high-profile jobs in the banking and financial sector

Advice to Students Considering Graduate Work in English

Drawing on specific case histories from over 50 students who applied to graduate programs in English Literature, Composition, and Writing, this document represents my advice to students applying nationwide to do graduate work in the various subfields of English studies