Research

Working Papers

• Attridge, Jonathon, Jill G. Welch, and Celeste K. Carruthers. Free community college and college completion: Evidence from Tennessee. (April 2025 draft) (submitted)
• Wu, Ge and Celeste K. Carruthers. Assessing a Free College Opportunity for Students in Disadvantaged Schools. (revisions requested)
• Brown, Michael, Celeste K. Carruthers, Michael Kofoed, Jenna Kramer, and Aaron Phipps. Does Free Community College Change Who Enlists in the Military? Qualitative and Quantitative Evidence from Tennessee Promise. (submitted)
• Carruthers, Celeste K., Shaun Dougherty, Daniel Kreisman, Roddy Theobald, Carly Urban, and Jesus Villero. Who Take High-Earnings CTE Pathways? An Empirical Analysis from Five States. (submitted)
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Emily Pratt. College coaching and completion grants in Tennessee: Estimated Effects on Persistence. (submitted)
• Carruthers, Celeste K., and Ge Wu. Does Career and Technical Education Move with the Labor Market?
• Carruthers, Celeste K. Post-COVID Labor Market Shortages and College Enrollment.

Published & Forthcoming

• Carruthers, Celeste K., Shaun Dougherty, Thomas Goldring, Daniel Kreisman, Roddy Theobald, Carly Urban, and Jesus Villero. Career and Technical Education Alignment Across Five States. (2024). AERA Open 10.
• Carruthers, Celeste K., William F. Fox, and Christopher Jepsen. What Knox Achieved: Estimated effects of free community college on attainment and earnings (accepted, Journal of Human Resources). Free preprint.
• Ecton, Walt, Carolyn Heinrich, and Celeste K. Carruthers. Earning to Learn: Working while Enrolled in Tennessee Colleges and Universities. (2023). AERA Open 9.
• Summary at theconversation.com
• Carruthers, Celeste K., William F. Fox, Larry Kessler, and Matthew N. Murray. (2022). Tax compliance in the Amazon. National Tax Journal 75(2): 297-311 Free preprint and appendix.
• Carruthers, Celeste K., and Christopher Jepsen. (2022). Vocational Education: An International Perspective, in The Routledge Handbook of the Economics of Education, edited by Brian McCall, London, UK: Routledge. Free preprint, CES-ifo Working Paper No. 8718.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Kara S. Mitchell. Are "Education Lotteries" Less Regressive? Evidence from Texas. (2020). Southern Economic Journal 86(3): 1019-1040. Winner of the 2020 Georgescu-Roegen Prize. Free preprint.
• Bruce, Donald J., Celeste K. Carruthers, Matthew C. Harris, Matthew N. Murray, and Jinseong Park. (2019). Do In-Kind Grants Stick? The Department of Defense 1033 program and local government spending. Journal of Urban Economics 112: 111-121 Free preprint.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Jilleah G. Welch. (2019) Not Whether, but Where? Pell Grants and College Choices. Journal of Public Economics 172:1-19 Free preprint.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Thomas Sanford. (2018) Way Station or Launching Pad? Unpacking the Returns to Adult Technical Education. Journal of Public Economics 165: 146-159. Free preprint and Appendix.
• Kim, Bongkyun, Celeste K. Carruthers, and Matthew C. Harris. Maternal Stress and Birth Outcomes: Evidence from the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. (2017). Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 140: 354-373.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Marianne H. Wanamaker. Separate and Unequal in the Labor Market: Human Capital and the Jim Crow Wage Gap. (2017). Journal of Labor Economics 35(3): 655-696.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Marianne H. Wanamaker. Returns to School Resources in the Jim Crow South. (2017). Explorations in Economic History 64: 104-110.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Umut Ozek. (2016). Losing HOPE: Financial Aid and the Line Between College and Work. Economics of Education Review 53: 1-15.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and William F. Fox (2016). Aid for all: College coaching, financial aid, and postsecondary persistence in Tennessee. Economics of Education Review 51: 97-112.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Marianne H. Wanamaker. (2015). Municipal Housekeeping: The Impact of Women's Suffrage on the Provision of Public Education. The Journal of Human Resources 50 (4): 837-872.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Donald J. Bruce. Jackpot? The Impact of Lottery Scholarships on Enrollment in Tennessee. (2014). Journal of Urban Economics 81: 30-44.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Marianne H. Wanamaker (2013). Closing the Gap? The Effect of Private Philanthropy on the Provision of African-American Schooling in the U.S. South. Journal of Public Economics 101, 53-67.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. (2012). The Qualifications and Classroom Performance of Teachers Moving to Charter Schools. Education Finance and Policy, 7(3), 223-268.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. (2012). New Schools, New Students, New Teachers: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Charter Schools. Economics of Education Review, 31(2), 280-292.

Policy Briefs, Reports, and Other Writing

• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Matthew C. Harris. (2024). Tennessee's Post-Pandemic Labor Force Recovery.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Emily Pratt. (2024). Navigate Reconnect: 2024 Annual Report.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Emily Pratt. (2024). College coaching and completion grants in Tennessee: Estimated Effects on Persistence.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. (2024). How a Bachelor's Degree Earnings Threshold Could Be Used for Graduate Program Accountability. Postsecondary Equity and Economics Research Project.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Emily Pratt (2024). Going Beyond Free College: Initial Findings on College Success with Supplemental Coaching and Grants.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Ryan Herzog. (2023). "In fractious debate, GOP candidates find common ground on cause of inflation woes and need for school choice." The Conversation.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Emily Pratt. (2023). Knox Promise: College Persistence and Completion for the First Three Cohorts.
• Carruthers, Celeste K., William F. Fox, Diego Guerrero, and Emily Pratt. (2023). Knox Promise and Nashville GRAD: An Early Look at College Outcomes.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. (2023). The Value of a College Education in Tennessee.
• Hunt, John Patrick, and Celeste K. Carruthers. (Feb 28, 2023). "Student debt cancellation in jeopardy as Supreme Court justices hear arguments." The Conversation.
• Carruthers, Celeste K., Donald J. Bruce, Lawrence M. Kessler, and Linnea Endersby. (2023). Tennessee's Post-Pandemic Workforce: Implications for the Value of Going to College.
• Miller-Adams, Michelle and Jennifer Iriti, eds. (2022). The Free College Handbook: A Practitioner’s Guide to Promise Research. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
• Iriti, Jennifer and Celeste K. Carruthers. "Who Sits at the Planning Table?"
• Iriti, Jennifer and Celeste K. Carruthers. "What Steps are Needed to Launch a Promise Program?"
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Jennifer Iriti. "How do Promise Programs Evolve Over Time?"
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Jennifer Iriti. "What are Some Common Challenges Promise Programs Face?"
• Urban, Carly, Celeste K. Carruthers, Shaun Dougherty, Thomas Goldring, Dan Kreisman, and Roddy Theobald. (2022). A Multi-State Analysis of Trends in Career and Technical Education. Georgia State University CTEx Research Lab.
• Carruthers, Celeste K., Shaun Dougherty, Sophie McGuinness, Sydney Payne, and Roddy Theobald. (2022). Graduation, College, and Employment Outcomes for CTE Students with an Identified Disability. Georgia State University CTEx Research Lab.
• Carruthers, Celeste K., Oded Gurantz, and Lindsay Page. (2022). Helping Students Make Informed Choices About College. EdResearch for Recovery Brief No. 23. Brown University Annenberg Institute.
• Goldring, Thomas, Celeste K. Carruthers, Shaun Dougherty, Daniel Kreisman, and Roddy Theobold. (2021). A Multi-State Analysis of Trends in Career and Technical Education: Massachusetts, Michigan, Tennessee, and Washington. Georgia State University CTEx Research Lab.
• Carruthers, Celeste K., Shaun Dougherty, Daniel Kreisman, and Roddy Theobold. (2021). A Multi-State Study of Equity in Career and Technical Education. Georgia State University CTEx Research Lab.
• Wu, Ge, and Celeste K. Carruthers. (2021). Engagement with Career and Technical Education in Tennessee High Schools. (OSF pre-analysis plan and interim report)
• Carruthers, Celeste K., Shaun Dougherty, Daniel Kreisman, and Alfredo Martin. (2020). A Multi-State Analysis of Trends in Career and Technical Education: Massachusetts, Michigan, and Tennessee. Georgia State University CTEx Research Lab.
• Driving Forward: Ensuring Postsecondary Students Earn Credentials In A Changing Economy.'' (2020). Prepared in partnership with William Fox, Bryce Warden, and the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE).
• Bonilla, Sade, Celeste K. Carruthers, and Dominique Baker. (2020). Guidance and Support for Students Moving into Postsecondary. EdResearch for Recovery Brief No. 3. Brown University Annenberg Institute.
• Carruthers, Celeste K., Larry Kessler, and Marianne Wanamaker. (2020). COVID-19 could shrink the earnings of 2020 graduates for years to come. The Conversation.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Jilleah G. Welch. (2020). Can Financial Aid (Re)Connect Students to College? Evidence from Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. (2019). Career and Technical Education, Accountability, and Program Quality Indicators Under Perkins V. Georgia State University CTEx Research Lab.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. (2019). 5 things to know about the Tennessee Promise scholarship. Brown Center Chalkboard, Brookings Institution.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. and Jonathon Attridge. (2019). College and Work after High School for Tennessee Career and Technical Education Students. Georgia State University CTEx Research Lab.
• Ozek, Umut, Celeste K. Carruthers, and Kristian Holden. (2018). Teacher value-added in charter schools and traditional public schools. Calder Working Paper No. 183.
• Carruthers, Celeste K., David Figlio, and Tim Sass. (2018). Did tenure reform in Florida affect student test scores? Evidence Speaks Reports 2(52).
• Carruthers, Celeste K. "Tennessee is Showing how Free Tuition Works." New York Times, Room for Debate, 1/20/2016.
• Encyclopedia of Education Economics and Finance (2014). Brewer, D.J. and Picus, L.O. (Eds.), Sage. Entries for "Adult Education," "G.I. Bill" (with Justin Roush), "Pell Grants" (with Jilleah Welch), and "Vocational Education."
• Blair, Roger D. and Carruthers, Celeste K. (2010). The Economics of Monopoly Power in Antitrust. Antitrust Law & Economics, Keith Hylton (Ed.), Edward Elgar.
• Carruthers, Celeste K. (2008). Twombly and the Evolution of Telecom Regulation. Antitrust Bulletin, 53(1), 95-116.

Data

• Carruthers, Celeste, and Wanamaker, Marianne. County-level school enrollment and resources in ten segregated Southern states, 1910-1940. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-05-06. https://doi.org/10.3886/E109625V1.