ERIC Number: ED615732
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Nov
Pages: 29
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Study of Enhanced College Advising in Upward Bound: Impacts on Where and How Long Students Attend College. Evaluation Report. NCEE 2022-002r
Linkow, Tamara; Parsad, Amanda; Martinez, Alina; Miller, Hannah
National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance
Decisions about whether and where to go to college can make a difference in students' later success. However, many students from low-income families--"undermatch"--they do not enroll at all or do not enroll in the most selective college they likely could attend. This study investigated whether promising advising strategies, bundled together in a package called "Find the Fit," could improve college choices for rising high school seniors in the federal college access program Upward Bound. "Find the Fit" includes customized information about college going and costs, text messaging of key application and financial aid deadlines, and specialized training for the students' advisors. About 200 Upward Bound projects across the country volunteered to test "Find the Fit," with half randomly selected to get access to it during the study period. This final report compared the college choices of 4,500 students in projects with and without access to "Find the Fit" to determine its effects on college attendance. Key findings include: (1) Despite its initial benefits -- increasing the number and selectivity of the colleges to which students applied -- "Find the Fit" did not change whether these students, mostly from low-income families, undermatched; (2) "Find the Fit" did shift some students' enrollment choices to more selective colleges, regardless of whether students were undermatched. This shift did not seem to come with higher costs or a greater risk of dropping out, potential consequences of attending a more selective college; and (3) But there was no significant effect on college persistence through the third year after high school. [For the study highlights, see ED615734. For the appendix, see ED615736.]
Descriptors: Low Income Students, High School Seniors, Federal Programs, Access to Education, College Attendance, Information Dissemination, Training, Faculty Advisers, College Choice, Program Effectiveness, Selective Admission, Academic Persistence, Student Financial Aid, Costs, Postsecondary Education, Equal Education, Disadvantaged Youth, College Readiness, Tutoring, Guidance, Course Selection (Students), Barriers, Minority Group Students, Academic Achievement, College Applicants, Grade Point Average, College Entrance Examinations, Racial Differences, Ethnicity, Geographic Location, Proximity
National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. Available from: ED Pubs. P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Tel: 877-433-7827; Web site: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education; Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) (ED/IES); Abt Associates, Inc.; Mathematica
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (NCES); SAT (College Admission Test); ACT Assessment
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: EDIES12C0087
IES Publication: https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/2022002/index.asp