Can Free Community College Close Racial Disparities in Postsecondary Attainment? How Tulsa Achieves Affects Racially Minoritized Student Outcomes

Promise programs, or place-based tuition-free college policies, have become increasingly popular among policymakers looking to expand postsecondary attainment. In this article, we examine Tulsa Achieves, a widespread, albeit understudied type of promise program that covers the balance of students’ tuition and fees after other aid is exhausted at a single community college. Utilizing a difference-in-differences and event-study design, we investigate the role Tulsa Achieves eligibility plays in promoting or hindering vertical transfer and bachelor's degree attainment across racial/ethnic groups. We find that Tulsa Achieves eligibility is associated with increases in bachelor's degree attainment within 5 years among Native American and Hispanic students and an increased likelihood of transfer within 4 years for Hispanic students.

Postsecondary Educational Attainment and Health among Younger U.S. Adults in the “College-for-All” Era

Population-health research has neglected differentiation within postsecondary educational attainments. This gap is critical to understanding health inequality because college experience with no degree, vocational/technical certificates, and associate degrees may affect health differently. We examine health across detailed postsecondary attainment levels. We analyze data on 14,750 respondents in Waves I and IV of the nationally representative Add Health panel spanning adolescence to ages 26 to 34. Multivariate regression and counterfactual approaches to minimize the impact of confounders estimate multiple health outcomes across postsecondary attainment levels. Compared to high school diplomas, we find significant returns to bachelor’s degrees for most health outcomes and smaller but largely significant returns to associate degrees. In contrast, adults with some college but no degree or with vocational/technical certificates do not have better physical health than high school graduates. Our findings highlight the stark differentiation within higher education as reflected by the disparate health outcomes in early adulthood.

Strategies to Overcome Enrollment Barriers

The importance of postsecondary education for economic vitality and individual opportunity has received increased focus with over 40 states embracing postsecondary attainment goals for their populations in alignment with Lumina Foundation’s goal that 60% of individuals ages 25-64 have a recognized credential by 2025. Credentials that both meet the needs of an aging society and move the country towards achieving attainment goals are widely available at community colleges. Community colleges are not only important sources of training and education for adult learners, they also work closely with employers to meet their workforce needs. However, adult learners face many barriers to college enrollment, including poor pre-enrollment advising and lack of understanding of financial aid options. Examples of successful strategies to facilitate enrollment will be discussed, including navigators who serve as holistic advisors and work with students from pre-enrollment to graduation, and also guide the prospective student through the financial aid process. Part of a symposium sponsored by the Community College Interest Group.

Promise for Whom? “Free-College” Programs and Enrollments by Race and Gender Classifications at Public, 2-Year Colleges

Promise programs are proliferating across the United States, with wide variation in their design. Using national data on 33 Promise programs affecting single, 2-year colleges, this study examines program effects on first-time, full-time college enrollments of students by race/ethnicity and gender classification. Results suggest Promise programs are associated with large percent increases in enrollments of Black and Hispanic students, especially students classified as females, at eligible colleges. Promise programs with merit requirements are associated with higher enrollment of White and Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander female students; those with income requirements are negatively associated with enrollment of most demographic groups. More generous Promise programs are associated with greater enrollment increases among demographic groups with historically higher levels of postsecondary attainment.

Promoting Educational Success: Which GEAR UP Services Lead to Postsecondary Enrollment and Persistence?

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) is a federal program designed to promote postsecondary readiness and success among low-income students. Some evidence suggests that this program promotes college enrollment and persistence, but GEAR UP may include a wide variety of services, and it is unclear which ones actually contribute to these apparent overall effects. The present study investigates this issue using doubly robust propensity score analyses to provide stronger causal conclusions. Four general service types and seven specific services were examined; the results provide important implications for GEAR UP and other programs designed to promote postsecondary attainment.