scholarly journals Improving College Access and Success for Low-Income Students: Evidence from a Large Need-Based Grant Program

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabrielle Fack ◽  
Julien Grenet
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
College Enrollment ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Enrollment Decisions ◽  
Grant Programs ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Grant Program ◽  
Enrollment Rates ◽  
The Impact

Using comprehensive administrative data on France's single largest financial aid program, this paper provides new evidence on the impact of large-scale need-based grant programs on the college enrollment decisions, persistence, and graduation rates of low-income students. We exploit sharp discontinuities in the grant eligibility formula to identify the impact of aid on student outcomes at different levels of study. We find that the provision of 1,500 euros cash allowances to prospective undergraduate or graduate students increases their college enrollment rates by 5 to 7 percent. Moreover, we show that need-based grants have positive effects on student persistence and degree completion. (JEL H52, I22, I24, I28, J24)

scholarly journals Take Two! SAT Retaking and College Enrollment Gaps

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Goodman ◽  
Oded Gurantz ◽  
Jonathan Smith
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Low Income ◽  
College Enrollment ◽  
High School Graduates ◽  
Causal Effects ◽  
Underrepresented Minority ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Sat Scores ◽  
Enrollment Rates ◽  
Enrollment Gaps

Only half of SAT-takers retake the exam, with even lower retake rates among low-income students and underrepresented minority (URM) students. We exploit discontinuous jumps in retake probabilities at multiples of 100, driven by left-digit bias, to estimate retaking’s causal effects. Retaking substantially improves SAT scores and increases four-year college enrollment rates, particularly for low-income and URM students. Eliminating disparities in retake rates could close up to 10 percent of the income-based gap and up to 7 percent of the race-based gap in four-year college enrollment rates of high school graduates. (JEL I21, I23, I24, J15)

Closing the Gap: The Effect of Reducing Complexity and Uncertainty in College Pricing on the Choices of Low-Income Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 (6) ◽  
pp. 1721-1756
Author(s):  
Susan Dynarski ◽  
CJ Libassi ◽  
Katherine Michelmore ◽  
Stephanie Owen
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Loss Aversion ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Present Bias ◽  
Selective Colleges ◽  
Enrollment Rates ◽  
Closing The Gap ◽  
Flagship University ◽  
Scale Experiment

High-achieving, low-income students attend selective colleges at far lower rates than upper-income students with similar achievement. Behavioral biases, intensified by complexity and uncertainty in the admissions and aid process, may explain this gap. In a large-scale experiment we test an early commitment of free tuition at a flagship university. The intervention did not increase aid: rather, students were guaranteed before application the same grant aid that they would qualify for in expectation if admitted. The offer substantially increased application (68 percent versus 26 percent) and enrollment rates (27 percent versus 12 percent). The results suggest that uncertainty, present bias, and loss aversion loom large in students’ college decisions. (JEL I22, I23, I24, D31, I28)

Skills, Schools, and Credit Constraints: Evidence from Massachusetts

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Goodman
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
School Districts ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
College Enrollment ◽  
Credit Constraints ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Academic Skill ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Enrollment Rates

Low college enrollment rates among low-income students may stem from a combination of credit constraints, low academic skill, and low-quality schools. Recent Massachusetts data allow the first use of school district fixed effects in the analysis of credit constraints, leading to four findings. First, low-income students in Massachusetts have lower intended college enrollment rates than higher income students but also have dramatically lower skills and attend lower-quality school districts. Second, inclusion of skill controls greatly reduces but does not eliminate this intended enrollment gap. Third, inclusion of school district fixed effects has little further impact, with low-income students eight percentage points less likely to intend enrollment than higher income students of the same skill and from the same school district. Fourth, medium- and high-skilled low-income students appear the most constrained. State governments could use the methods employed here to target financial aid more efficiently.

scholarly journals Evidence for the Influence of School Context on College Access

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Betsy R. Strick
Keyword(s):  
Asian American ◽  
Low Income ◽  
College Enrollment ◽  
School Context ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Asian American Students ◽  
High Achieving Students ◽  
American Students ◽  
Enrollment Rates ◽  
Four Year Colleges

Since the release of the Coleman Report in 1966, studies (such as Sirin, 2005; Radford, Berkner, Wheeless, and Shepherd, 2010) have continued to find an association between socioeconomic status and educational attainment. Wyner, Bridgeland, and Diiulio (2007) observe that a progressively lower proportion of low-income, high achieving students remain successful as they advance from elementary school through college. The present study considers college enrollments from a college preparatory charter secondary school serving low-income students. The study finds that alumni enrolled in four-year colleges at a higher rate than did lottery-assigned comparison students. These four-year college enrollment findings held for Hispanic, African American, and Asian American students. At the same time, the overall college enrollment rates, meaning enrollment in two- and four-year colleges in contrast to no college enrollment, were quite similar for the Preuss School and comparison students. These results were achieved, this study suggests, through numerous academic and social supports that increase college eligibility rates and institute four-year college and financial aid applications as part of coursework. The four-year college enrollment findings offer the promise that schools can be arranged to increase academic opportunities for low-income students. 

scholarly journals Helping Students FIG-ure It Out: A Large-Scale Study of Freshmen Interest Groups and Student Success

AERA Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 233285842110218
Author(s):  
Lovenoor Aulck ◽  
Joshua Malters ◽  
Casey Lee ◽  
Gianni Mancinelli ◽  
Min Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interest Groups ◽  
Minority Students ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Racial Minority ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Racial Minority Students ◽  
Freshman Seminars ◽  
Enrollment Rates ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
The Impact

Freshman seminars are a ubiquitous offering in higher education, but they have not been evaluated using matched comparisons with data at scale. In this work, we use transcript data on over 76,000 students to examine the impact of first-year interest groups (FIGs) on student graduation and retention. We first apply propensity score matching on course-level data to account for selection bias. We find that graduation and re-enrollment rates for FIG students were higher than non-FIG students, an effect that was more pronounced for self-identified underrepresented racial minority students. We then employ topic modeling to analyze survey responses from over 12,500 FIG students to find that social aspects of FIGs were most beneficial to students. Interestingly, references to social aspects were not disproportionately present in the responses of self-identified underrepresented racial minority students.

Pricing Out the Disadvantaged? The Effect of Tuition Deregulation in Texas Public Four-Year Institutions

2014 ◽  
Vol 655 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella M. Flores ◽  
Justin C. Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
College Enrollment ◽  
Hispanic Students ◽  
State Legislature ◽  
Pell Grant ◽  
State Governments ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Difference In Differences ◽  
Four Year Institutions ◽  
Tuition Deregulation

This article examines whether tuition deregulation in Texas (in 2003 the state legislature gave tuition-setting authority to institutional governing boards) has affected the college enrollment of underrepresented and low-income students. Using a difference-in-differences research design, we find that Hispanic students have been most negatively affected by tuition deregulation. Results for black students are largely mixed, in that we find an increase in college enrollment after deregulation in some specifications, while Pell Grant recipients, incoming and returning, appear to have experienced an increase in college enrollment following deregulation. Implications and recommendations for state governments considering this contentious legislation are provided.

Improving College Access at Low-Income High Schools? The Impact of GEAR UP Iowa on Postsecondary Enrollment and Persistence

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas A. Bowman ◽  
Sanga Kim ◽  
Laura Ingleby ◽  
David C. Ford ◽  
Christina Sibaouih
Keyword(s):  
College Access ◽  
Low Income ◽  
College Enrollment ◽  
High School Graduates ◽  
Gear Up ◽  
Postsecondary Enrollment ◽  
Education Status ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Undergraduate Programs ◽  
The Impact

GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a federal program designed to promote college access and success for students from low-income backgrounds. Although some literature has examined K–12 outcomes, little research has explored the extent to which GEAR UP achieves its intended postsecondary objectives. The present study used a difference-in-differences design with a sample of 17,605 students to explore the impact of GEAR UP Iowa on college enrollment and persistence. The findings indicate that GEAR UP Iowa promotes the college enrollment of high school graduates by 3 to 4 percentage points, whereas it appears to have no effect on college persistence. Results are similar regardless of students’ socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, sex, and K–12 special education status.

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