New research has determined that recreational cannabis legalization in some states has led to an increase in enrolments by roughly 9%, without compromising rates of graduation or degree completion. The research was carried out by Ahmed El Fatmaoui, a graduate student at the University of Oklahoma.
For the study, El Fatmaoui built on previous research such as one study that determined which legal states saw bigger application pools with no observed decline in student-applicant quality. He then obtained data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data system as well as the county for his analysis.
His findings showed that the legalization of recreational cannabis increased enrolment by between 4% to 9%, with the researcher noting that this was observed in both women and men. The report explained that enrolments rose after the fourth year of the first dispensary in a state launching, highlighting that the delay could be because of various factors, including the moderate development of a cannabis consumption culture.
El Fatmaoui also recognized that another possible explanation could be the fact that states sometimes used supplementary tax revenue generated from cannabis sales to subsidize their higher-education sector. This, he posited, could also increase enrollment numbers.
Regarding student performance, the research centered on Colorado and Washington, primarily because they are the only states that have legalized recreational cannabis for a long enough period. El Fatmaoui determined that the legalization of recreational cannabis had a positive impact on rates of graduation, contributing to increases of more than 5% and 2.7% points for associate degrees and bachelor’s degrees respectively.
The researcher explained that the increase in the graduation rate for bachelor’s degrees reflected growing student transfers, adding that rising out-of-state enrollments also suggested that the shift in policy boosted competitiveness in colleges by providing positive amenities.
He underscored that there was no evidence that the legalization of recreational cannabis affected in-state enrollment, quality or college prices. He then added that his findings didn’t negate results of past studies, explaining that lack of data on grade point average data in the dataset he used prevented him from evaluating the impact of recreational cannabis legalization on overall student scores.
In his conclusion, El Fatmaoui wrote that his analysis revealed that the legalization of recreational cannabis did not diminish overall student success.
He also called attention to the need for additional studies on how this change in policy impacted student choice when it came to choosing majors. The study’s findings were reported in the “Economic Inquiry” journal.
This study sheds additional light on the unexpected benefits that can accrue when a robust cannabis market is launched and licensed companies such as Curaleaf Holdings Inc. (CSE: CURA) (OTCQX: CURLF) are allowed to operate.
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