Stay the Course: Evaluating an Intervention to Promote Community College Persistence and Graduation Rates

Last registered on August 25, 2016

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Stay the Course: Evaluating an Intervention to Promote Community College Persistence and Graduation Rates

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0000223

Initial registration date

February 27, 2014

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

February 27, 2014, 10:14 AM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated

August 25, 2016, 5:42 PM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country

United States of America

Region

Southwest

Primary Investigator

Name

James Sullivan

Affiliation

University of Notre Dame

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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Melissa Kearney

PI Affiliation

University of Maryland

Contact Investigator

PI Name

William Evans

PI Affiliation

University of Notre Dame

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Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2013-08-19

End date

2018-08-31

Keywords

Education

Additional Keywords

Community college, retention, degree completion

JEL code(s)

I24- Education and Inequality, C93- Field Experiments, D04- Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation

Secondary IDs

Abstract

This study evaluates a community college intervention program, Stay the Course, that is designed to address the “life barriers” – as distinct from specific academic barriers – that challenge many economically-disadvantaged students. The goal of the study is to determine whether an intervention of this type is effective at increasing community college persistence and graduation rates. The key components of intervention are coaching/mentoring services and emergency financial assistance. The program is being run by a community service provider in agreement with a large community college in Fort Worth, TX. We will use administrative records to track student academic outcomes for at least three years post random assignment. The main outcomes of interest are total credit hours completed, re-enrollment rates, and degrees or certificates obtained. Demographic data obtained from student records will be used to investigate how treatment effects vary across student subgroups.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Evans, William, Melissa Kearney and James Sullivan. 2016. "Stay the Course: Evaluating an Intervention to Promote Community College Persistence and Graduation Rates." AEA RCT Registry. August 25. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.223-2.0

Former Citation

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Study subjects are randomly selected to receive services through a program called Stay the Course. This program is designed to help income students succeed in a community college setting. Stay the Course has two key components: full-service, wrap-around case management and access to emergency financial assistance. In the case management component, a trained social service provider from outside the college works individually with a student to address their personal challenges and create a holistic, long-term plan for educational success. This service helps students to navigate the community college system and absorb shocks in their personal life that threaten their ability to complete a degree. Emergency Financial Assistance provides students with resources to cover emergency non-academic expenses or income shortfalls that could negatively impact their persistence in college.

Intervention Start Date

2013-08-26

Intervention End Date

2016-05-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

credit hours completed, GPA, degree completion, transfers to four year college, time to completion

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

We identified our study sample as a group of students enrolled at a particular community college campus. The college determined which students met the eligibility criteria as determined by the research team, which totaled 1,169 students. Eligible students were randomly assigned to one of three study groups; students in treatment arm 1 receive case management and access to emergency financial assistance, students in treatment arm 2 are eligible strictly for the emergency financial assistance, and students in the control group receive no services from Stay the Course. The central hypothesis we will test is whether the services provided through this intervention, which directly addresses personal, non-academic and social-institutional barriers, will increase community college persistence and completion rates. Outcomes will be tracked through administrative records for up to six years from time of random assignment.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization conducted by researcher using a computer program.

Randomization Unit

Individual Student

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

1 school

Sample size: planned number of observations

1169 Students

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

430 students assigned to treatment arm 1
300 students assigned to treatment arm 2
439 students assigned to control

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Setting the p-value at 0.05 and the power of the test at 80 percent, we should be able to detect an 8.9 percentage point rise in the one-semester persistence rate and a 10.8 percentage point increase in the one-year persistence rate.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB