About

George Bulman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University, obtained in 2013, and a B.S. in Mathematics from Haverford College, earned in 2002. His research focuses on various aspects of education economics, including the effects of endowments and financial resources on access to selective colleges and universities, the impact of COVID-19 on community college enrollment and student success, and the influence of parental resources and lottery-based financial aid on college attendance. Bulman's work also explores the implications of federal policies on higher education, the role of technology in education, and the effects of tax incentives for postsecondary education. His research has been published in prominent outlets such as the American Economic Review, the Journal of Labor Economics, and the Economics of Education Review, and he has contributed to discussions on education affordability, policy impacts, and the dynamics of college investment and enrollment gaps.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Political Science
• Economics
• Demographic economics
• Microeconomics
• Psychology
• Economic growth
• Business
• Law
• Geography
• Monetary economics
• Demography
• Actuarial science
• Medical education
• Finance
• Medicine
• Labour economics
• Pedagogy

Selected publications

• The Effect of College and University Endowments on Financial Aid, Admissions, and Student Composition

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2022-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The Impact of COVID-19 on Community College Enrollment and Student Success: Evidence from California Administrative Data

  Education Finance and Policy · 2022 · 52 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Demography

  Abstract This paper examines how the pandemic impacted the enrollment patterns, fields of study, and academic outcomes of students in the California Community College System, the largest higher-education system in the country. Enrollment dropped precipitously during the pandemic—the total number of enrolled students fell by 11 percent from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020 and by another 7 percent from Fall 2020 to Fall 2021. The California Community College system lost nearly 300,000 students over this period. Our analysis reveals that enrollment reductions were largest among black and Latinx students, and were larger among continuing students than first-time students. We find no evidence that having a large online presence prior to the pandemic protected colleges from these negative effects. Enrollment changes were substantial across a wide range of fields and were large for both vocational courses and academic courses that can be transferred to four-year institutions. In terms of course performance, changes in completion rates, withdrawal rates, and grades primarily occurred in the spring of 2020. These findings of the effects of the pandemic at community colleges have implications for policy, impending budgetary pressures, and future research.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Impact of COVID-19 on Community College Enrollment and Student Success: Evidence from California Administrative Data

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2022-01-01 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The Effect of College and University Endowments on Financial Aid, Admissions, and Student Composition

  National Bureau of Economic Research · 2022-08-01 · 5 citations

  reportOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This paper examines how private college and university endowments affect financial aid, admissions selectivity, and the economic and racial composition of incoming students. Because endowment levels are a function of expenditures and alumni giving, which are endogenous to the outcomes of interest, the design exploits changes in endowments stemming from variation in investment returns over time and across peer institutions. Estimates reveal that growing endowments generate large and persistent increases in spending overall and for instruction, student services, and administration in particular. However, wealthier colleges and universities do not increase the number of students they serve or the fraction of students receiving aid, and only modestly increase the generosity of aid packages. Instead, these institutions offset higher freshman yield rates by becoming more selective and enrolling fewer low-income students and students of color. Overall, colleges and universities appear to use greater endowment wealth to increase spending and to become more selective, resulting in higher institutional rankings, but do not increase the size or diversity of their student bodies. The results are important in light of the preferential tax treatment of endowments and interest in increasing access to elite postsecondary education for underserved populations.

  PublisherDOI

• The Effect of Financial Resources on Homeownership, Marriage, and Fertility: Evidence from State Lotteries

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2022-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The Effect of Financial Resources on Homeownership, Marriage, and Fertility: Evidence from State Lotteries

  National Bureau of Economic Research · 2022-12-01 · 6 citations

  reportOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This paper leverages the universe of U.S. tax data and state lottery wins between 2000 and 2019 to estimate the causal effect of financial resources on three key lifecycle outcomes for young adults. We find large and persistent effects on homeownership, with a response function that exhibits substantial concavity but also an extremely high upper bound, and larger responses among higher-income individuals. Resources generate persistent increases in marriage for single men and women but do not increase the likelihood existing marriages are preserved. Fertility is modestly accelerated by a lottery win, but there is little effect on total fertility. Our results support a causal pathway behind differences in homeownership and marriage by socioeconomic status and inform theories of household formation and the family.

  PublisherDOI

• The Impact of COVID-19 on Community College Enrollment and Student Success: Evidence from California Administrative Data

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2022-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The Impact of COVID-19 on Community College Enrollment and Student Success: Evidence from California Administrative Data

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2022-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The Impact of COVID-19 on Community College Enrollment and Student Success: Evidence from California Administrative Data

  National Bureau of Economic Research · 2021-04-01 · 19 citations

  reportOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Although enrollment at California's four-year public universities mostly remained unchanged by the pandemic, the effects were substantial for students at California Community Colleges, the largest higher education system in the country. This paper provides a detailed analysis of how the pandemic impacted the enrollment patterns, fields of study, and academic outcomes of these students through the first four semesters after it started. Consistent with national trends, enrollment dropped precipitously during the pandemic -the total number of enrolled students fell by 11 percent from fall 2019 to fall 2020 and by another 7 percent from fall 2020 to fall 2021. The California Community College system lost nearly 300,000 students over this period. Our analysis reveals that enrollment reductions were largest among African-American and Latinx students, and were larger among continuing students than first-time students. We find no evidence that having a large online presence prior to the pandemic protected colleges from these negative effects. Enrollment changes were substantial across a wide range of fields and were large for both vocational courses and academic courses that can be transferred to four-year institutions. In terms of course performance, changes in completion rates, withdrawal rates, and grades primarily occurred in the spring of 2020. These findings of the effects of the pandemic at community colleges have implications for policy, impending budgetary pressures, and future research.

  PublisherDOI

• Parental Resources and College Attendance: Evidence from Lottery Wins

  American Economic Review · 2021 · 67 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Economics
  • Demographic economics

  We examine US children whose parents won the lottery to trace out the effect of financial resources on college attendance. The analysis leverages federal tax and financial aid records and substantial variation in win size and timing. While per-dollar effects are modest, the relationship is weakly concave, with a high upper bound for amounts greatly exceeding college costs. Effects are smaller among low-SES households, not sensitive to how early in adolescence the shock occurs, and not moderated by financial aid crowd-out. The results imply that households derive consumption value from college, and household financial constraints alone do not inhibit attendance. (JEL G51, I22, I23, I24, I26, I28, J24, J31)

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Caroline Hoxby

  24 shared

• Robert W. Fairlie

  20 shared

• Sarena Goodman

  Federal Reserve

  8 shared

• Adam Isen

  5 shared

• Jonathan Smith

  5 shared

• Timothy N. Bond

  5 shared

• Xiaoxiao Li

  Nankai University

  5 shared

• Robert S. Manning

  1 shared