Hall, Diane M. HarnekJung, JuergenRhoads, Thomas2018-05-172018-05-172010-06Diane M. Harnak Hall & Juergen Jung & Thomas Rhoads, 2010. "Does the Availability of Parental Health Insurance Affect the College Enrollment Decision of Young Americans?," Working Papers 2010-05, Towson University, Department of Economics, revised May 2011.JEL: C35JEL: I23JEL: I10http://hdl.handle.net/11603/10775The present study examines whether the college enrollment decision of young individuals (student full-time, student part-time, non-student) depends on health insurance coverage via a parent’s family health plan. Our findings indicate that the availability of parental health insurance has significant effects on the probability that a young individual enrolls as a full-time student. A young individual who has access to health insurance via a parent is up to 22 percent more likely to enroll as a full-time student than an individual without parental health insurance. After controlling for unobserved heterogeneity this probability drops to 5.5-6.5 percent but is still highly significant. We also find that the marginal effect of the availability of parental health insurance has a larger effect on older students between ages 21-23. We provide a brief discussion about possible implications of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 in this context.application/pdf30 pagesen-USOccupational choiceHealth insuranceEducational choiceSurvey of Income and Program Participation (Program)Text2012-01