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Affording Degree Completion: An Experimental Study of Completion Grants at Accessible Public Universities

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Abstract

To improve college affordability and graduation rates, universities are increasingly allocating “completion grants” to students who are nearing the finish line but facing financial challenges. Using an experimental design and common program model across 11 broad-access public universities in ten states, we assessed the impact of a completion grants averaging $1,200 distributed among more than 14,000 students. We find that, despite university expectations that most students were near completion, only two-thirds of students eligible to receive a completion grant graduated within the academic year. Receiving a completion grant did not improve that rate. However, nearly all eligible students (95%) graduated within three years or were still working on their degrees. While completion grants are intended to enhance equity, we do not find evidence that they exerted positive impacts for marginalized groups as designed in this study. Moreover, while there was some program implementation variation across universities, it did not lead to differences in program impact.

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  • Christine Baker-Smith & Kallie Clark & Sara Goldrick-Rab & Christel Perkins & Douglas A. Webber & Travis T. York, 2023. "Affording Degree Completion: An Experimental Study of Completion Grants at Accessible Public Universities," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2023-047, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:96646
    DOI: 10.17016/FEDS.2023.047
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    1. Benjamin L. Castleman & Bridget Terry Long & Zachary Mabel, 2018. "Can Financial Aid Help to Address the Growing Need for STEM Education? The Effects of Need†Based Grants on the Completion of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Courses and Degrees," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(1), pages 136-166, January.
    2. Oded Gurantz, 2015. "Who Loses Out? Registration Order, Course Availability, and Student Behaviors in Community College," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 86(4), pages 524-563, July.
    3. Benjamin L. Castleman & Bridget Terry Long, 2016. "Looking beyond Enrollment: The Causal Effect of Need-Based Grants on College Access, Persistence, and Graduation," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(4), pages 1023-1073.
    4. Eric Bettinger & Oded Gurantz & Laura Kawano & Bruce Sacerdote & Michael Stevens, 2019. "The Long-Run Impacts of Financial Aid: Evidence from California's Cal Grant," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 64-94, February.
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    Keywords

    higher education; affordability; graduation; financial aid; inequality;
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