Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Sep 11:19:101228.
doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101228. eCollection 2022 Sep.

Higher education and health at midlife: Evaluating the role of college quality

Jia Wang  1 , Jordan Conwell  2
Affiliations

Higher education and health at midlife: Evaluating the role of college quality

Jia Wang et al. SSM Popul Health. .

Abstract

Using the longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1979 linked with external data on college characteristics (N = 7056), this study illustrates an independent stratifying role of college quality in shaping health. College quality has significant and positive influences on physical health, and this positive association tends to strengthen across 40 and 50. By contrast, attending higher-quality colleges is not associated with mental health at either age 40 or age 50. Decompositions were conducted to assess the extent to which early life and demographic characteristics, employment and economic conditions, health behaviors, and family relationships account for observed patterns. Our study highlights the necessity for future research on education and health to incorporate characteristics of schools attended; reveals variation in the college quality-health nexus by specific health outcomes; and provides new insights into understanding health inequalities across the life course.

Keywords: College quality; Health; Higher education; Midlife.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Average levels of physical and mental health by college quality (including non-college at age 40 and 50.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Explanatory roles of underlying mechanisms, physical health.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adjaye-Gbewonyo K., Kawachi I. Use of the yitzhaki index as a test of relative deprivation for health outcomes: A review of recent literature. Social Science & Medicine. 2012;75(1):129–137. - PubMed
    1. Andersson M.A. Modern social hierarchies and the spaces between: How are subjective status inconsistencies linked to mental well-being? Social Psychology Quarterly. 2018;81(1):48–70.
    1. Bann D., Hamer M., Parsons S., Ploubidis G.B., Sullivan A. Does an elite education benefit health? Findings from the 1970 British cohort study. International Journal of Epidemiology. 2017;46(1):293–302. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barnett N.P., Ott M.Q., Rogers M.L., Loxley M., Linkletter C., Clark M.A. Peer associations for substance use and exercise in a college student social network. Health Psychology. 2014;33(10):1134–1142. - PubMed
    1. Becker G.S. Investment in human capital: A theoretical analysis. Journal of Political Economy. 1962;70(5):9–49.

LinkOut - more resources