Back to History Current Version

College Summer School: Educational Bene fits and Enrollment Preferences

Last registered on May 15, 2020
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
College Summer School: Educational Bene ts and Enrollment Preferences
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005849
Initial registration date
May 14, 2020

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 15, 2020, 2:18 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
United States of America
Region
Indiana

Primary Investigator

Name
Andy Brownback
Affiliation
University of Arkansas
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Sally Sadoff
PI Affiliation
University of California, San Diego
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2016-04-22
End date
2019-09-01
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
summer school, free tuition, eld experiment, community college
JEL code(s)
I23, M52, M55, C93
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We examine whether summer school is a missed opportunity for colleges to accelerate completion. We randomly assign summer scholarships to community college students and link their educational outcomes to their preferences for the scholarships. The scholarships have a large impact on degree acceleration, increasing graduation within one year of the intervention by 32% and transfers to four-year colleges by 53%. Treatment effects are concentrated among students with a preference against summer school. Our results suggest that educational impacts do not drive enrollment preferences. And, that many more students could benefit from summer school than the small minority who currently enroll.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Brownback, Andy and Sally Sadoff. 2020. "College Summer School: Educational Bene ts and Enrollment Preferences." AEA RCT Registry. May 15. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5849-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

Partner

Name
Ivy Tech Community College
Type
government
URL
https://www.ivytech.edu/

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
In our study, we randomly assigned tuition scholarships for summer courses to community college students. The scholarships had a face value of approximately $400 and could be used to pay for tuition for one summer course of up to three credit-hours (they did not cover other costs such as books, materials, and lab fees). The scholarships were only valid for the immediately following summer term and valid at any Ivy Tech campus.
Intervention Start Date
2016-05-06
Intervention End Date
2017-07-29

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Graduation with an associate degree and transfer to 4-year colleges
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
These outcomes will be pulled directly from the Ivy Tech administrative database. We will look at these within one year of the intervention and within two years of the intervention

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Course completion, enrollment in later semesters, retention into subsequent semesters
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
These outcomes will be pulled directly from the Ivy Tech administrative database.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We conducted the study in two waves: 2016 and 2017. During the Spring 2016 and Spring 2017 terms, our partners identified and recruited currently-enrolled students to participate in our study. Interested students enrolled by completing an online survey. After completing the recruitment, our partners matched the students' survey responses to administrative data containing their academic progress: enrollment, grades, credit accumulation, graduation, transfer, and dropout status. This matching was successful for 121 of 156 students in the 2016 cohort (78%) and 284 of 292 students in the 2017 cohort (97%). We only included matched students in the randomization to scholarships, and thus limit our analysis to these students.

Our experimental sample includes 405 enrolled and matched students across the two cohorts. Based on budget availability, we randomly awarded 69 scholarships in the 2016 cohort (57%) and 97 scholarships in the 2017 cohort (35%).
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
The scholarships were assigned using a stratified randomization.

In the 2016 cohort, the randomization strata were: one of five GPA groups, the relative value of summer enrollment (elicited through the enrollment survey), age, and gender. In the 2017 cohort, the randomization strata were: one of three GPA groups, age, and gender. We control for differences in the stratification and assignment ratio by using fixed effects for cohort.
Randomization Unit
Scholarships were assigned at the individual student level
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
405 students
Sample size: planned number of observations
405 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
405 students
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Arkansas Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2015-11-09
IRB Approval Number
1709067147
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

There is information in this trial unavailable to the public. Use the button below to request access.

Request Information

Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials