Enhancing Transfer Rates through Personalized Information

Last registered on October 23, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Enhancing Transfer Rates through Personalized Information
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017086
Initial registration date
October 22, 2025

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
October 23, 2025, 7:42 AM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Esteban Aucejo
Affiliation
Arizona State University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-10-23
End date
2026-12-01
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The study aims to investigate the impact of providing personalized feedback and targeted informational videos to Arizona Western College (AWC) students on their understanding of the transfer process to four-year institutions. Specifically, the research addresses:

Which student groups at AWC are most affected by information frictions?

Does personalized feedback and an informational intervention improve transfer rates?

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Aucejo, Esteban. 2025. "Enhancing Transfer Rates through Personalized Information ." AEA RCT Registry. October 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17086-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Randomized intervention that provides students with personalized feedback about how to transfer to a 4-year institution. The personalized feedback is based on survey responses from students. The feedback has two components: it identifies areas where students may require additional information and provides links to microlearning videos offering specific details on transferring to a 4-year institution.
Intervention Start Date
2025-10-23
Intervention End Date
2025-12-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Information on whether students transferred and (if collected) changes in beliefs about the probability of transferring.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
STEP 1: Study Introduction

AWC administrators and possibly course professors will announce the study/survey to students.

Students will receive a survey link via a class announcement or email.

We will be providing instructors with an announcement message (see attachment) for them to introduce the study that is made. The first announcement will also include a link for the survey.

Reminders will be sent within four weeks of launching the survey (see attachment).

STEP 2: Initial Survey and Consent

Survey Platform: Qualtrics
Consent Process: Students must provide informed consent before accessing the survey (see attachment consent form).
Survey Duration: Approximately 15 minutes
Participant Rights: Students may exit the survey or skip questions without penalty.

Data Collected:
• Demographics, transfer plans, financial concerns, academic preparedness, barriers, students' names, AWC ID, and email addresses since these are essential for linking and communication

STEP 3: Group Assignment and Intervention

Students who received the personalized treatment messages and videos are selected at random by Qualtrics.

Treatment Group:
• Receives feedback messages and links to short videos. Students receive tailored emails and informational videos covering:

Why transfer?

Transfer process clarity

Financial considerations

Academic preparedness

Personal/external barriers

Academic and career uncertainty

Support and transition readiness

The control group does not receive personalized resources or videos.

STEP 4: Final Data Collection and Analysis

Linking survey data with administrative records, including:
• Demographic data: birth year, gender, race,
• Academic data: degree program, field of study, high school GPA, current course load, and college transcript data, transfer status (if available).

STEP 5: Assessment

Analysis focuses on the differences in transfer rates between the treatment and control groups, controlling for baseline characteristics, and (if collected) changes in self-reported probabilities of transfer.

Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Done automatically by Qualtrics
Randomization Unit
individual level
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1
Sample size: planned number of observations
1000
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 treatment group/500 control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Arizona State University
IRB Approval Date
2025-10-21
IRB Approval Number
STUDY00022754
Analysis Plan