Frontier Knowledge in College and Student Success
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.
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Copy CitationBarbara Biasi and Song Ma, "Frontier Knowledge in College and Student Success," NBER Working Paper 35269 (2026), https://doi.org/10.3386/w35269.Download Citation
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