Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

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.

Keywords

community colleges educational policy higher education evaluation program evaluation regression discontinuity quasi-experimental analysis policy analysis

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alon

(2009). The evolution of class inequality in higher education: Competition, exclusion, and adaptation. American Sociological Review, 74(5), 731–755. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240907400503

Andrews

R. J.

DesJardins

Ranchhod

(2010). The effects of the Kalamazoo promise on college choice. Economics of Education Review, 29(5), 722–737. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2010.05.004

Angrist

Autor

Hudson

Pallais

(2016). Evaluating post-secondary aid: Enrollment, persistence, and projected completion effects (Working Paper No. 23015). https://doi.org/10.3386/w23015

Bailey

M. J.

Dynarski

S. M.

(2011). Gains and gaps: Changing inequality in U.S. college entry and completion (Working Paper No. 17633). https://doi.org/10.3386/w17633

Baker

D. J.

(2020). “Name and shame”: An effective strategy for college tuition accountability? Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 42(3), 393–416.

Bartik

Eberts

Huang

W.-J.

(2010). The Kalamazoo promise, and enrollment and achievement trends in Kalamazoo public schools. Upjohn Institute. http://research.upjohn.org/confpapers/15

Bartik

T. J.

Hershbein

Lachowska

(2015). The effects of the Kalamazoo promise scholarship on college enrollment, persistence, and completion (SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 2624727). Social Science Research Network. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2624727

Bartik

T. J.

Hershbein

Lachowska

(2019). The effects of the Kalamazoo promise scholarship on college enrollment and completion. Journal of Human Resources, 56, 269–310. https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.56.1.0416-7824R4

Bell

(2020). The politics of designing tuition-free college: How socially constructed target populations influence policy support. The Journal of Higher Education, 91(6), 888–926. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2019.1706015

10.

Bettinger

E. P.

Baker

R. B.

(2014). The effects of student coaching: An evaluation of a randomized experiment in student advising. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 36(1), 3–19. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373713500523

11.

Bettinger

E. P.

Long

B. T.

Oreopoulos

Sanbonmatsu

(2009). The role of simplification and information in college decisions: Results from the H&R Block FAFSA experiment (Working Paper No. 15361). https://doi.org/10.3386/w15361

12.

Bifulco

Rubenstein

Sohn

(2019). Evaluating the effects of universal place-based scholarships on student outcomes: The buffalo “say yes to education” program. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 38(4), 918–943. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22139

13.

Billings

(2018). Free college for all: The impact of promise programs on college access and success [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Michigan. https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/144101

14.

Bowen

W. G.

Kurzweil

M. A.

Tobin

E. M.

Pichler

S. C.

Hall

Ryan

(2006). Equity and excellence in American higher education (1st Pbk. ed.). University of Virginia Press.

15.

Bozick

Gonzalez

Engberg

(2015). Using a merit-based scholarship program to increase rates of college enrollment in an urban school district: The case of the Pittsburgh promise. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 45(2), 2–24.

16.

Bulman

G. B.

Hoxby

C. M.

(2015). The returns to the federal tax credits for higher education (Working Paper No. 20833). https://doi.org/10.3386/w20833

17.

Callahan

Perna

L. W.

Yamashita

Wright

Santillan

(2018). 2018 indicators of higher education equity in the United States: Historical trend report. The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, Council for Opportunity in Education and Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy of the University of Pennsylvania. http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2018_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf

18.

Carrell

Sacerdote

(2017). Why do college-going interventions work? American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 9(3), 124–151. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.20150530

19.

Carruthers

Fox

Jepsen

(2017, November 3). Promise kept? Free community college and attainment in Tennessee [Paper presentation]. 2017 APPAM Fall Research Conference. https://appam.confex.com/appam/2017/webprogram/Paper23018.html

20.

Carruthers

C. K.

Fox

W. F.

(2016). Aid for all: College coaching, financial aid, and post-secondary persistence in Tennessee. Economics of Education Review, 51, 97–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.06.001

21.

Castleman

Long

(2016). Looking beyond enrollment: The causal effect of need-based grants on college access, persistence, and graduation. Journal of Labor Economics, 34(4), 1023–1073.

22.

Cattaneo

M. D.

Escanciano

J. C.

(Eds.) (2017). Regression discontinuity designs: Theory and applications. Emerald.

23.

Cattaneo

M. D.

Jansson

(2018). Manipulation testing based on density discontinuity. Stata Journal, 18(1), 234–261.

24.

Cattaneo

M. D.

Titiunik

Vazquez-Bare

(2017). Comparing inference approaches for RD designs: A reexamination of the effect of head start on child mortality. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 36(3), 643–681. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.21985

25.

Cellini

S. R.

Goldin

(2014). Does federal student aid raise tuition? New evidence on for-profit colleges. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 6(4), 174–206. https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.6.4.174

26.

Clotfelter

C. T.

Hemelt

S. W.

Ladd

H. F.

(2018). Multifaceted aid for low-income students and college outcomes: Evidence from North Carolina. Economic Inquiry, 56(1), 278–303. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12486

27.

Cohodes

S. R.

Goodman

J. S.

(2014). Merit aid, college quality, and college completion: Massachusetts’ Adams scholarship as an in-kind subsidy. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 6(4), 251–285. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.6.4.251

28.

Cortes

K. E.

Lincove

J. A.

(2019). Match or mismatch? Automatic admissions and college preferences of low- and high-income students. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 41(1), 98–123. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373718813360

29.

Daugherty

Gonzalez

G. C.

(2016). The impact of the new haven promise program on college enrollment, choice, and persistence. https://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WR1147.html

30.

Denning

Marx

Turner

(2017). ProPelled: The effects of grants on graduation, earnings, and welfare (Upjohn Institute Working Papers No. 17-280). https://doi.org/10.17848/wp17-280

31.

Dynarski

(2000). Hope for whom? Financial aid for the middle class and its impact on college attendance (Working Paper No. 7756). https://doi.org/10.3386/w7756

32.

Dynarski

(2003). Does aid matter? Measuring the effect of student aid on college attendance and completion. The American Economic Review, 93(1), 279–288.

33.

Dynarski

Scott-Clayton

(2013). Financial aid policy: Lessons from research. The Future of Children, 23(1), 67–91.

34.

Fitzpatrick

M. D.

Jones

(2016). Post-baccalaureate migration and merit-based scholarships. Economics of Education Review, 54, 155–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2016.07.002

35.

Gándara

(2020). Promise for whom? “Free-college” programs and enrollments by race and gender classifications at public, 2-year colleges. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 42(4), 603–627. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373720962472

36.

Goldrick-Rab

(2016). Paying the price: College costs, financial aid, and the betrayal of the American dream. University of Chicago Press.

37.

Gonzalez

G. C.

Bozick

Daugherty

Scherer

Singh

Suárez

M. J.

Ryan

(2014). Transforming an urban school system—Progress of new haven school change and new haven promise education reforms (2010–2013). RAND Corporation.

38.

Gurantz

(2020). What does free community college buy? Early impacts from the Oregon promise. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 39, 11–35. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.22157

39.

Harris

D. N.

Farmer-Hinton

Kim

Diamond

Reavis

Rifelj

K. K.

… Carl

(2018). The promise of free college (and its potential pitfalls) (p. 38). Brown Center for Education Policy, the Brookings Institution.

40.

Imbens

Kalyanaraman

(2012). Optimal bandwidth choice for the regression discontinuity estimator. The Review of Economic Studies, 79(3), 933–959. https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdr043

41.

Imbens

Lemieux

(2007). Regression discontinuity designs: A guide to practice (Working Paper No. 13039). https://doi.org/10.3386/w13039

42.

Iriti

Page

L. C.

Bickel

W. E.

(2018). Place-based scholarships: Catalysts for systems reform to improve postsecondary attainment. International Journal of Educational Development, 58, 137–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2017.02.002

43.

Jones

J. N.

Miron

Kelaher-Young

A. J.

(2012). The Kalamazoo promise and perceived changes in teacher beliefs, expectations, and behaviors. Journal of Educational Research, 105(1), 36–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2010.517575

44.

Lee

D. S.

Card

(2008). Regression discontinuity inference with specification error. Journal of Econometrics, 142(2), 655–674. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2007.05.003

45.

LeGower

Walsh

(2017). Promise scholarship programs as place-making policy: Evidence from school enrollment and housing prices. Journal of Urban Economics, 101(Suppl. C), 74–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2017.06.001

46.

Libassi

C. J.

(2018). The neglected college race gap: Racial disparities among college completers. Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-postsecondary/reports/2018/05/23/451186/neglected-college-race-gap-racial-disparities-among-college-completers/

47.

Long

B. T.

(2004). How do financial aid policies affect colleges? The institutional impact of the Georgia HOPE scholarship. Journal of Human Resources, XXXIX(4), 1045–1066. https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.XXXIX.4.1045

48.

McCrary

(2008). Manipulation of the running variable in the regression discontinuity design: A density test. Journal of Econometrics, 142(2), 698–714. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconom.2007.05.005

49.

Miller-Adams

(2015). Promise nation: Transforming communities through place-based scholarships. Upjohn Press. https://doi.org/10.17848/9780880995061

50.

Miller-Adams

Timmeney

(2013). The impact of the Kalamazoo promise on college choice: An analysis of Kalamazoo area math and science center graduates. Upjohn Institute Policy Papers. https://doi.org/10.17848/pol2015-014

51.

Mishory

(2018a, March 6). The future of statewide college promise programs. The Century Foundation. https://tcf.org/content/report/future-statewide-college-promise-programs/

52.

Mishory

(2018b, July 12). “Free college”: Here to stay? The Century Foundation. https://tcf.org/content/report/free-college-stay/

53.

Monaghan

D. B.

Attewell

(2015). The community college route to the bachelor’s degree. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 37(1), 70–91. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373714521865

54.

Ovink

Kalogrides

Nanney

Delaney

(2018). College match and undermatch: Assessing student preferences, college proximity, and inequality in post-college outcomes. Research in Higher Education, 59(5), 553–590. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-017-9482-y

55.

Page

L. C.

Iriti

J. E.

(2016). On undermatch and college cost: A case study of the Pittsburgh promise. In Kelly

A. P.

Howell

J. S.

Satin-Bajaj

(Eds.), Matching students to opportunity: Expanding college choice, access, and quality (pp. 135–159). Harvard Education Press.

56.

Page

L. C.

Iriti

J. E.

Lowry

D. J.

Anthony

A. M.

(2018). The promise of place-based investment in postsecondary access and success: Investigating the impact of the Pittsburgh promise. Education Finance and Policy, 14, 572–600. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00257

57.

Page

L. C.

Kehoe

S. S.

Castleman

B. L.

Sahadewo

G. A.

(2017). More than dollars for scholars: The impact of the dell scholars program on college access, persistence and degree attainment. Journal of Human Resources, 54, 683–725. https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.54.3.0516.7935R1

58.

Perna

L. W.

Leigh

E. W.

(2017). Understanding the promise: A typology of state and local college promise programs. Educational Researcher, 47, 155–180. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X17742653

59.

Radwin

(2018). 2015–16 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:16): Student financial aid estimates for 2015–16: First look (p. 81). National Center for Education Statistics.

60.

Ratledge

(2017). Enhancing promise programs to improve college access and success. MDRC. https://www.mdrc.org/publication/enhancing-promise-programs-improve-college-access-and-success

61.

Ratledge

O’Donoghue

Cullinan

Camo-Biogradlija

(2019). A path from access to success: Interim findings from the Detroit promise path evaluation. MDRC. https://www.mdrc.org/publication/path-access-success

62.

Schudde

Brown

R. S.

(2019). Understanding variation in estimates of diversionary effects of community college entrance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sociology of Education, 92(3), 247–268. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040719848445

63.

Scott-Clayton

(2011). On money and motivation a quasi-experimental analysis of financial incentives for college achievement. Journal of Human Resources, 46(3), 614–646. https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.46.3.614

64.

Scott-Clayton

Zafar

(2019). Financial aid, debt management, and socioeconomic outcomes: Post-college effects of merit-based aid. Journal of Public Economics, 170, 68–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2019.01.006

65.

Scrivener

Weiss

M. J.

(2013). More graduates: Two-year results from an evaluation of Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) for developmental education students (SSRN Scholarly Paper No. ID 2393088). Social Science Research Network. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2393088

66.

Smith

Pender

Howell

(2013). The full extent of student-college academic undermatch. Economics of Education Review, 32, 247–261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2012.11.001

67.

Sohn

Rubenstein

Murchie

Bifulco

(2017). Assessing the effects of place-based scholarships on urban revitalization: The case of say yes to education. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 39(2), 198–222. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373716675727

68.

Swanson

Ritter

(2020). Start to finish: Examining the impact of the El Dorado promise program on postsecondary outcomes. Journal of Student Financial Aid, 49(3), Article 2. https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jsfa/vol49/iss3/2

69.

Swanson

Watson

Ritter

Nichols

(2017). Promises fulfilled? A systematic review of the impacts of promise programs (SSRN Scholarly Paper No. ID 2849194). Social Science Research Network. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2849194

70.

Turner

L. J.

(2017). The economic incidence of federal student grant aid (p. 41). http://econweb.umd.edu/~turner/Turner_FedAidIncidence_Jan2017.pdf

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.21 MB

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

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material