Education Exports and Human Capital Flows: Evidence from a Tuition Lottery

Last registered on March 20, 2025
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Education Exports and Human Capital Flows: Evidence from a Tuition Lottery
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0013117
Initial registration date
May 29, 2024

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
May 30, 2024, 5:47 AM EDT

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

Last updated
March 20, 2025, 2:59 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

Primary Investigator

Name
Daniel Firoozi
Affiliation
Claremont McKenna College
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2012-01-01
End date
2025-01-01
Keywords
Education, Labor
Additional Keywords
Tuition, Research Universities, Labor Mobility
JEL code(s)
I22, I23, J61
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
I study the impact of a non-resident tuition lottery that randomized nonresident supplemental tuition fees among 1,333 students from 45 countries who were admitted to a leading American research university that was a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU). I will estimate the impact of nonresident tuition on enrollment rates, tuition recovery, degree attainment, immigration patterns, and innovation using pre-specified methods and outcome measures that will be collected and linked to the dataset in the coming months. I will then estimate the long-run external costs and benefits of nonresident tuition using pre-specified calculations.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Firoozi, Daniel. 2025. "Education Exports and Human Capital Flows: Evidence from a Tuition Lottery." AEA RCT Registry. March 20. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.13117-1.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention (Hidden)
Intervention Start Date
2012-01-01
Intervention End Date
2017-06-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Primary outcomes are listed in the attached pre-analysis plan.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
College applicants were randomly assigned using a computer randomized lottery to one of three treatment arms with different nonresident tuition waivers in the year 2012.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Computer-randomized lottery
Randomization Unit
Individual-level randomization
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1,333 students
Sample size: planned number of observations
1,333 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
445 assigned to $40,000 in tuition waivers
444 assigned to $30,000 in tuition waivers
444 assigned to $20,000 in tuition waivers
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Roughly 0.37 percentage points for binary outcomes per $1,000 of tuition waivers at a 95 percent confidence interval.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

PAP

MD5: cfe760ee1a6c744cc7bbbc2417192ffb

SHA1: ae2b50f61f5195ab1aa24fea7d73f921b9d73b42

Uploaded At: May 29, 2024

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
June 15, 2017, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
July 02, 2024, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
1,333 students
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
No
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
1,333 students
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
1,333 students
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials