The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) substantially lowered the trade barrier between Mexico and the United States. I study the effect of American industries’ increased competition against Mexican imports on educational attainment at the postsecondary level. Using the commuting-zone-by-state level variations in the protection against import competition, I find evidence for a substantial increase in both enrollment and degree acquisition in public two- year colleges as a result of lowered tariffs on manufactured goods from Mexico. Educational attainment at four-year colleges, in the contrary, does not respond to NAFTA in a statistically meaningful manner.

北美自由贸易协定（NAFTA）大大降低了墨西哥与美国之间的贸易壁垒。我研究了美国工业对墨西哥进口商品日益激烈的竞争对中学后教育水平的影响。通过对各州之间通勤区的差异进行保护，以防止进口竞争，我发现有证据表明，由于降低了来自墨西哥的制成品的关税，公立两年制大学的入学率和学位获得率均大幅增加。相反，四年制大学的教育程度并没有以统计学上有意义的方式回应北美自由贸易协定。