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College Guidance for All: A Randomized Experiment in Pre‐College Advising

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  • Eric P. Bettinger
  • Brent J. Evans

Abstract

Pre‐college advising programs exist in most disadvantaged high schools throughout the United States. These programs supplement traditional advising by high school guidance counselors and attempt to help underrepresented and disadvantaged students overcome the complexities of the postsecondary admission and financial aid processes. Existing evidence on these programs often uses within‐school randomization where spillovers and alternative supports may confound estimates. We provide the first evidence on a whole school intervention resulting from a school‐level randomized controlled trial in the United States. The college access program we study uses a near‐peer model where a recent college graduate works at the school assisting students in the application and enrollment process. Pooled results across the first three years of program implementation find no significant impacts on overall college enrollment. However, subgroup analyses reveal positive, significant effects among the groups most targeted by the intervention: Hispanic and low‐income students. Most of the impact comes through increasing two‐year college enrollment, but this appears to be new entrants rather than inducing students to move from four‐year to two‐year colleges. The observed positive effects for these subgroups attenuate over time. We attribute this drop in the estimated impact to departures in fidelity of the experiment. Even among the cohorts for which we find positive enrollment impacts, we find no significant impacts on college persistence.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric P. Bettinger & Brent J. Evans, 2019. "College Guidance for All: A Randomized Experiment in Pre‐College Advising," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(3), pages 579-599, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:38:y:2019:i:3:p:579-599
    DOI: 10.1002/pam.22133
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    Cited by:

    1. Jonathan Guryan & Sandra Christenson & Ashley Cureton & Ijun Lai & Jens Ludwig & Catherine Schwarz & Emma Shirey & Mary Clair Turner, 2020. "The Effect of Mentoring on School Attendance and Academic Outcomes: A Randomized Evaluation of the Check & Connect Program," NBER Working Papers 27661, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Taylor K. Odle & Jennifer A. Delaney, 2022. "You are Admitted! Early Evidence on Enrollment from Idaho’s Direct Admissions System," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 63(6), pages 899-932, September.
    3. Steven W. Hemelt & Nathaniel L. Schwartz & Susan M. Dynarski, 2020. "Dual‐Credit Courses and the Road to College: Experimental Evidence from Tennessee," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(3), pages 686-719, June.
    4. Oded Gurantz & Jessica Howell & Michael Hurwitz & Cassandra Larson & Matea Pender & Brooke White, 2021. "A National‐Level Informational Experiment to Promote Enrollment in Selective Colleges," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(2), pages 453-479, March.
    5. Meredith Phillips & Sarah J. Reber, 2019. "Does Virtual Advising Increase College Enrollment? Evidence from a Random Assignment College Access Field Experiment," NBER Working Papers 26509, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Mangrum, Daniel, 2022. "Personal finance education mandates and student loan repayment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(1), pages 1-26.
    7. Amanda M. Cook, 2022. "Margins that Matter: Exploring the Association Between Academic Match and Bachelor’s Degree Completion Over Time," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 63(4), pages 672-712, June.
    8. Jonathan Guryan & Sandra Christenson & Ashley Cureton & Ijun Lai & Jens Ludwig & Catherine Schwarz & Emma Shirey & Mary Clair Turner, 2021. "The Effect of Mentoring on School Attendance and Academic Outcomes: A Randomized Evaluation of the Check & Connect Program," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(3), pages 841-882, June.

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