We provide evidence about college financial aid from an eight-year randomized trial where high school ninth graders received a $12,000 merit-based grant offer. The program was designed to be free of tuition/fees at community colleges and substantially lower the cost of four-year colleges. During high school, it increased students' college…

Background: In fall 2020, community colleges (CCs) served nearly five million students, representing 29% of U.S. undergraduates. Despite providing unprecedented access to postsecondary education, rates of degree attainment are low. Among first-time, full-time, degree/certificate-seeking students whose first postsecondary school is a CC, only 31%…

Developed by the City University of New York (CUNY), the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) is a comprehensive program that provides students with up to three years of financial and academic support and other services. In return, students are expected to enroll in classes full time and participate in essential program services. An…

"Aid Like A Paycheck" is a large-scale pilot evaluation of whether an innovative approach to disbursing financial aid can improve academic and financial outcomes for low-income community college students. Lessons from the pilot evaluation were used to create and fine-tune a logic model depicting activities, outputs, mediators, and…

Evidence shows that financial aid increases college enrollment. For many students at low-cost community colleges, this aid is intended to cover more than tuition and fees; after those are paid, the remainder is paid out, or "refunded," to students to help with their living expenses while they are enrolled in school. Often, however, the…

Evidence shows that financial aid increases college enrollment. For many students at low-cost community colleges, this aid is intended to cover more than tuition and fees; after those are paid, the remainder is paid out, or "refunded," to students to help with their living expenses while they are enrolled in school. Often, however, the…

This dissertation contains chapters that explore higher education policy issues related to student outcomes. In the first chapter, I examine the results of a controlled randomized trial of a brief, inexpensive phone call outreach to a sample of Pell eligible students at the University of Missouri intended to increase FAFSA filing, on-time FAFSA…

A randomized control trial was conducted to study whether providing 10th grade students with information about the returns to upper secondary and tertiary education, and a source of financial aid for tertiary education, can contribute to improve student performance. The study finds that the intervention had no effects on the probability of taking…

A college degree is often viewed as a key step toward better employment and higher earnings. Many community college students, however, never graduate and cannot reap the financial benefits associated with a college degree. Although existing research suggests that financial aid interventions can modestly improve students' short-term academic…

Performance-based scholarships have two main goals: (1) to give students more money for college; and (2) to provide incentives for academic progress. MDRC launched the Performance-Based Scholarship (PBS) Demonstration in 2008 to evaluate the effectiveness of these scholarships in a diverse set of states, institutions, and low-income student…

U.S. social programs, set up to address important problems, often fall short by funding specific models/strategies ("interventions") that are not effective. When evaluated in scientifically-rigorous studies, social interventions in K-12 education, job training, crime prevention, and other areas are frequently found ineffective or…

Although students leave high school stating their plans to continue their education, some lack the information and strategies to successfully navigate a successful transition to college. This paper presents results from a randomized study that is part of a larger, quasi-experimental intervention, the College Ambition Program (CAP). The embedded…

High school students from disadvantaged high schools in Toronto were invited to take two surveys, about three weeks apart. Half of the students taking the first survey were also shown a 3 minute video about the benefits of post secondary education (PSE) and invited to try out a financial-aid calculator. Most students' perceived returns to PSE were…