Working Paper: NBER ID: w24992
Authors: Philip Oreopoulos; Uros Petronijevic; Christine Logel; Graham Beattie
Abstract: We design and experimentally evaluate two low-cost, scalable interventions – an online preparatory module and a text-message coaching program – in a sample of over 3,000 undergraduate students at a large Canadian university. Supplementing administrative data on academic outcomes with a unique follow-up survey on student well-being and study habits, we estimate positive program effects on students’ non-academic outcomes, despite estimating null effects on course grades and credit accumulation. Given the low costs associated with administering these programs, our results suggest that the positive impacts on student experiences may warrant program expansion even in the absence of impacts on academic outcomes.
Keywords: student outcomes; online coaching; text-message interventions; nonacademic outcomes
JEL Codes: I20; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| text-message coaching program (L96) | core wellbeing index (I31) |
| text-message coaching program (L96) | success strategies index (L10) |
| text-message coaching program (L96) | sense of belonging and support (I31) |
| text-message coaching program (L96) | help-seeking behavior from course instructors and tutors (C92) |
| online CYOC module (C67) | nonacademic outcomes (I21) |
| text-message coaching program (L96) | academic performance (D29) |