Sources of Funding and Academic Performance in Economics Principles Courses

The authors examine two factors that may affect student achievement in economics principles courses: working for pay and the primary source of funds (employer tuition reimbursement, loans, scholarships, financial aid, self-financing, parental transfers, other) used to pay for college for a sample of students in economics principles classes at a regional, nonresidential public university. After controlling for endogeneity, working for pay has no statistical effect on course performance, but the sources of education funding have differential effects on the course grade, with employer funding having a strong positive and significant influence. Students receiving employer tuition reimbursement score approximately 14 percentage points higher in the course than students funded through parental transfers.