This study examines differences in educational experiences and outcomes for high school (HS) students who participated in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program and earned full diplomas compared to those who participated in the IB Diploma Program but did not earn the diploma. ACT scores, after-HS placement, and HS graduation rates of…

Concerns about rising college costs and uncertain economic returns have combined with a wave of populist backlash to reduce public trust in higher education, which plummeted to new lows in 2023. President Biden, who ran his 2020 campaign on a platform that included student loan forgiveness and free community college, has focused some of his recent…

We compiled the first longitudinal data set with detailed state funding information to examine whether different funding strategies for public higher education correlate with college access and completion, with a focus on outcomes among racially minoritized students. We found no relationships between funding mechanisms and student outcomes at…

Inclusive, quality education promotes understanding, tolerance and peaceful coexistence among individuals and communities. Education holds the potential to reduce the likelihood of conflicts by fostering critical thinking, encouraging open dialogue and creating economic growth opportunities. The world urgently needs to recognize the role of…

Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, increasing attention has been paid to rural communities. For our study, we used a multicase study approach that included five states to study the difference between the rhetoric about the need to focus more attention on rural communities soon after the 2016 election and the practiced reality of state…

What happens when college students are not able to enroll in the courses they want? We use a natural experiment at Purdue University in which first-year students are conditionally randomly assigned to oversubscribed courses. Compared to students who are assigned a requested course, those who are shut out are 40% less likely to ever take the…

Purpose: The study aims to provide insight on the potential effectiveness of demand-side financing for catalyzing improved educational outcomes in Malawi; and, given the extent of cost-related constraints to school contexts in other low-income countries, the results have relevance for education policy decisions more broadly.…

College presidents are receiving heightened public attention and scrutiny, but few data exist that demonstrate which college presidents are most effective at improving student outcomes. This report ranks over 400 current and former college and university presidents on how much they improved access, affordability, and student success during their…

Selective college admissions are fundamentally a question of tradeoffs: Given capacity, admitting one student means rejecting another. Research to date has generally estimated average effects of college selectivity, and has been unable to distinguish between the effects on students gaining access and on those losing access under alternative…

The "action agenda" is a key deliverable for the Postsecondary Value Commission that outlines policies and practices that institutional leaders, federal policymakers, and state policymakers should implement to address systemic barriers that prevent Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and AAPI students, students from low-income backgrounds, and…

In this dissertation, I examine various factors shaping students' trajectories and opportunities later in life. In Chapter 1, I explore the role of grade retention policies. Grade retention as a remedial policy is controversial because the benefits of extra instruction time may not outweigh its costs. Previous research has primarily examined…

Undocumented children have a right to a public k-12 education in the United States, however there is no standard approach to higher education. About half of states allow undocumented immigrants to attend public colleges and universities at in-state rates of tuition (ISRT) and a subset of these also allow them access to state financial aid. This…

This study estimates the extent to which apprenticeship affects the academic trajectories of vocational high-school students. Previous research has shown that apprenticeship-based high schools (or dual vocational education) increase employment outcomes compared to school-based-only vocational education. Employing a propensity score matching…

This paper presents new benefit-cost estimates for the Tulsa universal preschool program. These calculations are based on estimated effects from previous papers of Tulsa pre-K on high school graduation rates and college attendance rates of students who were enrolled in kindergarten in Tulsa Public Schools in the fall of 2006. In this paper,…

Researchers and policymakers alike recognize the lasting benefits of participation in high-quality arts coursework and in integrating arts into other content areas. Federal policymakers signaled their support for arts education by passing the Every Student Succeeds Act, with its inclusion of the arts as part of a "wellrounded education."…