Working Paper: NBER ID: w22217
Authors: Charles T. Clotfelter; Steven W. Hemelt; Helen F. Ladd
Abstract: We study the evolution of a campus-based aid program for low-income students that began with grant-heavy financial aid and later added a suite of non-financial supports. We find little to no evidence that program eligibility during the early years (2004-2006), in which students received additional institutional grant aid and few non-financial supports, improved postsecondary progress, performance, or completion. In contrast, program-eligible students in more recent cohorts (2007-2010), when the program supplemented grant-heavy aid with an array of non-financial supports, were more likely to meet credit accumulation benchmarks toward timely graduation and earned higher GPAs than their barely ineligible counterparts.
Keywords: low-income students; college outcomes; financial aid; non-financial supports; Carolina Covenant
JEL Codes: I22; I23
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Program eligibility (2004-2006) (I38) | Postsecondary outcomes (graduation rates) (I23) |
| Program eligibility (2007-2010) with grant aid and extensive non-financial supports (I23) | Credit accumulation benchmarks (G51) |
| Program eligibility (2007-2010) with grant aid and extensive non-financial supports (I23) | GPAs (Y40) |
| Eligibility for the covenant program (later cohorts) (I23) | Likelihood of graduating within four years (I23) |
| Eligibility for the covenant program (later cohorts) (I23) | Graduation rates (male students) (Y40) |
| Eligibility for the covenant program (later cohorts) (I23) | Graduation rates (female students) (Y40) |