Intervention(s)
The experimental population is all of those admitted to TFA during the 2015--2016, 2016--2017, and 2017--2018 admissions cycles, who applied for transitional grant and loan (TGL) funding, and were eligible for grants according to TFA’s formula.
Applications to TFA and the TGL funding were done on a rolling basis, and treatment assignment was done in lockstep. TGL packages and randomization to treatment were calculated in “batches” of applicants, done roughly once per week.
In 2015--2016, admits were randomly assigned to treatments 1--3 below.
In 2016--2017, until March 15, 2016, admits were randomly assigned to treatments 1--3 below, and after March 15, 2016, admits were randomly assigned to treatments 1--4 below.
In 2017--2018, admits in the bottom quintile of TFA’s measure of “expected contribution” (see below) were assigned to treatments 1--4 below, and admits in the top four quintiles of “expected contribution” were assigned to treatments 1, 5, and 6 below.
All randomized assignment was done with equal probability for each potential treatment.
The full list of treatment groups is:
1. Control: The standard TFA TGL package based on the admit’s financials, less a uniform amount compared to the previous year to fund the experimental variation.
2. $600 Loan: $600 in extra loan money on top of the control grant and loan award
3. $600 Grant: $600 in extra grant money on top of the control grant and loan award
4. $1,200 Grant: $1,200 in extra grant money on top of the control grant and loan award
5. $1,800 Loan: $1,800 in extra loan money on top of the control grant and loan award
6. $1,800 Grant: $1,800 in extra grant money on top of the control grant and loan award