The Changing Happiness-Enhancing Effect of a College Degree Under Higher Education Expansion: Evidence from China

Although the average enhancing effect of higher education on subjective wellbeing has been confirmed in many previous studies, we still know little about how such an effect may change in an era of higher education expansion. Drawing on representative data collected in urban China, this study illustrates a nonparametric analytical framework and highlights a declining trend in the average enhancing effect of a college credential on subjective wellbeing between 2003 and 2010. Meanwhile, growing heterogeneity in the positive association between higher education and happiness among urban residents was detected. The findings of this study suggest a “quality–quantity” tradeoff with regard to the desirable consequences of higher education for subjective wellbeing amidst the process of credential proliferation.