TO:	Participants, Higher Education Meeting

FROM:	Rob Shannon; Assistant Director, Conferences

DATE:	April 9, 2004

RE:	Papers for the Meeting

Enclosed please find the preliminary program, preliminary participant list and six papers scheduled for presentation at the NBER's April 30, 2004 Higher Education Meeting. The meeting, organized by Charles Clotfelter, will be held at the NBER,1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA. The group dinner will be held at Davio's Restaurant at the Royal Sonesta Hotel, 5 Cambridge Parkway, Cambridge, MA at 6:30 pm on Thursday, April 29.

The enclosed papers are as follows:

MARIE THURSBY, Georgia Institute of Technology and NBER

JERRY THURSBY, Emory University

EMMANUEL DECHENAUX, Purdue University

Shirking, Shelving, and Risk-Sharing: The Role of University License Contracts

GREG DUNCAN, Northwestern University

JOHANNE BOISJOLY, University of Quebec at Rimouski

DAN LEVY, Mathematica Policy Research

MICHAEL KREMER, Harvard University and NBER

JACQUE ECCLES, University of Michigan

Empathy or Antipathy? The Impact of Diversity

PETER ARCIDIACONO and JACOB VIGDOR, Duke University

Does the River Spill Over?

Estimating the Economic Returns to Attending a Racially Diverse College

CHARLOTTE KUH, National Research Council

The Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs:

An Opportunity to Conduct Research on Doctoral Education

SUSAN DYNARSKI, Harvard University

Who Benefits from the Education Saving Incentives? Income, Educational Expectations and the Value of the 529 and Coverdell

LARRY SINGELL, JR., GLEN WADDELL, and BRADLEY CURS, University of Oregon

Hope for the Pell? The Impact of Merit-Aid on Needy Students

The remaining papers,

will either be sent to you under separate cover or made available at the meeting. Please note that all papers will also be made available on the NBER's home page at www.nber.org/~confer.

Hotel reservations have been made, as requested, at the Royal Sonesta Hotel 617/806-4200. If you have not yet sent in your reply form, or if your plans should change, please contact me immediately so that the appropriate arrangements can be made.

If you are staying at the Royal Sonesta Hotel, shuttle vans will be available in front of the hotel at 8:00 am on Friday, April 30 to take you to the NBER.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at 617-868-3900, FAX 617-864-1825 or

E-MAIL confer@nber.org.