Health disparities between bachelors and associates degree holders with similar job quality.
*Janet E. Rosenbaum, University of Maryland Population Center 

Keywords: education, disparities, matching

Health disparities follow educational gradients, with bachelor degree (BA) graduates having better health than associates degree (AA) graduates. Some AA degrees yield well-paid jobs with good working conditions comparable to jobs held by BAs. No studies have compared health disparities between AA and BA graduates within the same job. This study uses high school graduates without post-BA degrees from wave 4 of the Add Health data (n=12,070) to compare the job quality and health risks of respondents with no post-secondary diploma (n=6636), community college certificate (n=1281), AA (n=1246), and BA (n=1907). Job quality is measured by 27 characteristics (e.g., health benefits, physical exertion). We compare the health risks of respondents, including biometric evaluation of hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and obesity. We compare graduates at three levels: (1) in aggregate, (2) within the same broad field (e.g., health technologists), and (3) within the same Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification (BLS-SOC) (e.g., respiratory therapist). Within fields and BLS-SOC where some respondents have a BA and others have an AA/certificate, we use a matched sampling model to balance respondents on wave 1 characteristics (e.g., Peabody Vocabulary test score, mother’s education) and wave 4 job characteristics (e.g., level of physical exertion), and compare health characteristics. We hypothesize that matched for job quality and wave 1 characteristics, there will be no health disparities between AA and BA degree holders. This study has implications for promotion of community college as vehicle for socioeconomic mobility and conceptualization of health disparities.