Working Paper: NBER ID: w22320
Authors: Philip Oreopoulos; Reuben Ford
Abstract: Recent research suggests that the college application process itself prevents access. This paper reports results from a large school-based experiment in which application assistance is incorporated into the high school curriculum for all graduating seniors at low-transition schools. Over three workshops, students were guided to pick programs of interest that they were eligible for, apply for real, and complete the financial aid application. The goal was to create a college option for exiting students to make the transition easier and more salient. On average, the program increased application rates from 64 to 78 per cent. College enrolment increased the following school year by 5.2 percentage points with virtually all of this increase in two-year community college programs. The greatest impact was for students who were not taking any university-track courses in high school: the application rate for these students increased by 24 percentage points with a nine per cent increase in two-year college enrolment. A second experiment was conducted two years later to explore several variations of the program. Offering personal assistance without waiving application fees had a negligible or even negative impact on applications and enrollment. Using laptops in homeroom classrooms instead of sending students to computer labs while combining the initial 2 workshops into one full-morning session increased application rates. However, subsequent enrollment effects were negligible. We provide some evidence consistent with the possibility that decreased guidance in choosing eligible programs was responsible for the second-experiment's decline in enrollment impacts.
Keywords: college applications; high school seniors; field experiment; financial aid; postsecondary education
JEL Codes: I20; I23; I28; J20
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| decreased guidance (I00) | enrollment impacts (I24) |
| lifeafterhighschool program (I23) | college application rates (I23) |
| lifeafterhighschool program (I23) | college enrollment rates (I23) |
| students not enrolled in university-track courses (A22) | college application rates (I23) |
| students not enrolled in university-track courses (A22) | college enrollment rates (I23) |