Does Free Community College Improve Student Outcomes? Evidence From a Regression Discontinuity Design

2021 ◽  
pp. 016237372199314
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Bell
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Degree Attainment ◽  
Regression Discontinuity ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Regression Discontinuity Design ◽  
College Gpa ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Bachelor's Degree Attainment

In this article, I utilize a regression discontinuity design to estimate the effects of Tulsa Achieves—a prevalent and understudied type of tuition-free college program. In contrast to concerns regarding tuition-free community college suppressing bachelor’s degree attainment, I find that Tulsa Achieves increased the likelihood of transferring to 4-year colleges by 13 to 14 percentage points and increased bachelor’s degree attainment by approximately 2 percentage points. The estimates for shorter outcomes are underpowered to detect policy relevant effects, but suggest Tulsa Achieves increased college GPA and had a null impact on credit accumulation, retention, and graduation from Tulsa Community College.

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

2021 ◽  
pp. 000283122110035
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Bell ◽  
Denisa Gándara
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Native American ◽  
Hispanic Students ◽  
Degree Attainment ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Difference In Differences ◽  
Bachelor's Degree Attainment ◽  
Tuition And Fees ◽  
Postsecondary Attainment ◽  
Racial Ethnic

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.

Access and Mobilization: How Social Capital Relates to Low-Income Youth’s Postsecondary Educational (PSE) Attainment

2015 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 439-461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariam Ashtiani ◽  
Cynthia Feliciano
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Degree Attainment ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Mentoring Relationships ◽  
College Entry ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Bachelor's Degree Attainment

Youth from advantaged backgrounds have more social relationships that provide access to resources facilitating their educational success than those from low-income families. Does access to and mobilization of social capital also relate to success among the few low-income youth who “overcome the odds” and persist in higher education? Using nationally representative longitudinal data over a 14-year period, this study shows that although access to social capital in families, schools, and communities is positively related to entry into higher education, most forms of adolescent social capital are not independently associated with degree attainment. However, the mobilization of social capital through certain types of mentorship benefits both the college entry and bachelor’s degree attainment of low-income youth, more so than for their more economically advantaged peers. Findings suggest that developing enduring mentoring relationships and new social resources rooted in the higher education context may be especially important in facilitating degree attainment for young adults from low-income backgrounds.

How Does High School Extracurricular Participation Predict Bachelor’s Degree Attainment? It is Complicated

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 753-768
Author(s):  
Margo Gardner ◽  
Stephen Hutt ◽  
Donald Kamentz ◽  
Angela L. Duckworth ◽  
Sidney K. D’Mello
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Degree Attainment ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Extracurricular Participation ◽  
Bachelor's Degree Attainment

A Psychosociocultural View of Hispanic First-Generation College Students’ Graduation Rates

2021 ◽  
pp. 152102512110562
Author(s):  
Christian A. Latino ◽  
Justine Radunzel ◽  
Jason D. Way ◽  
Edgar Sanchez ◽  
Alex Casillas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Hispanic Students ◽  
Degree Attainment ◽  
First Generation College Students ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
First Generation College ◽  
Bachelor's Degree Attainment ◽  
Academic Self Efficacy

First-generation college students (FGCS), nearly 50% of which identify as Hispanic, are an underserved population. The psychosociocultural theoretical framework posits that individual, environmental, and cultural factors contribute to the academic success of Hispanic students. This study examined the relationship between these factors (i.e., demographics, academic self-efficacy, meeting with professors, and attending cultural programming) to 6-year bachelor’s degree attainment and time to bachelor’s degree attainment among Hispanic students at a Hispanic Serving Institution ( n  =  358). Being better prepared academically, being female, and having greater academic self-efficacy were positively related to bachelor’s degree attainment; FGCS status was negatively related. Among students who graduated ( n  =  208), entering college being better prepared academically, and having greater academic self-efficacy were related to quicker bachelor’s degree attainment; FGCS status was not significantly related. Practitioners may pay more attention to Hispanic students’ academic self-efficacy and the success of Hispanic male students.

scholarly journals Class-Size Caps, Sorting, and the Regression-Discontinuity Design

2009 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Urquiola ◽  
Eric Verhoogen
Keyword(s):  
Class Size ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Regression Discontinuity ◽  
Regression Discontinuity Design ◽  
Household Characteristics ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Education Market ◽  
The Relationship

This paper examines how schools' choices of class size and households' choices of schools affect regression-discontinuity-based estimates of the effect of class size on student outcomes. We build a model in which schools are subject to a class-size cap and an integer constraint on the number of classrooms, and higher-income households sort into higher-quality schools. The key prediction, borne out in data from Chile's liberalized education market, is that schools at the class-size cap adjust prices (or enrollments) to avoid adding an additional classroom, which generates discontinuities in the relationship between enrollment and household characteristics, violating the assumptions underlying regression-discontinuity research designs. (JEL D12, I21, I28, O15)

scholarly journals What Happens When Extremists Win Primaries?

2015 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREW B. HALL
Keyword(s):  
Regression Discontinuity ◽  
General Election ◽  
Primary Elections ◽  
Legislative Behavior ◽  
Regression Discontinuity Design ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
Primary Election ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
General Elections ◽  
The U.S

This article studies the interplay of U.S. primary and general elections. I examine how the nomination of an extremist changes general-election outcomes and legislative behavior in the U.S. House, 1980–2010, using a regression discontinuity design in primary elections. When an extremist—as measured by primary-election campaign receipt patterns—wins a “coin-flip” election over a more moderate candidate, the party’s general-election vote share decreases on average by approximately 9–13 percentage points, and the probability that the party wins the seat decreases by 35–54 percentage points. This electoral penalty is so large that nominating the more extreme primary candidate causes the district’s subsequent roll-call representation to reverse, on average, becoming more liberal when an extreme Republican is nominated and more conservative when an extreme Democrat is nominated. Overall, the findings show how general-election voters act as a moderating filter in response to primary nominations.

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