This paper examines the effects of Pell Grant eligibility on student outcomes. Using a regression discontinuity (RD) design and a partial identification approach, the study provides bounds on the treatment effects that account for selection bias arising from the loss of grant eligibility. While initial eligibility is determined by financial need…

Little is known about the effects of need-based financial aid disbursed late into college and how students respond when they approach lifetime limits for receiving aid. I exploit changes to federal Pell Grant eligibility rules that reduced the lifetime availability for grant aid from 9 to 6 full-time-equivalent years to examine these questions.…

Time to degree completion is an important metric of academic progress and success for doctoral students. It is also a common way for educational stakeholders to compare programs even if the content of the degree programs varies. But what types of behaviors and experiences are associated with faster times to degree? In this study, we examine the…

Credit hour policies, or performance-based financial aid policies, have become increasingly popular among policymakers seeking to improve degree completion rates. In the Unites States, the college completion agenda has been bolstered by national calls from intermediary organizations and philanthropic foundations alike to raise the overall rate and…

RAND researchers studied more than 450,000 recipients of New Jersey's Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) -- the nation's most generous state-funded grant program per state resident college student -- to explore whether getting larger amounts of grant aid led to higher graduation rates for students at varying income levels and attending two-year, four-year,…

Researchers compared Pell-eligible and non-Pell-eligible undergraduate students' pre-study abroad GPA and graduation GPAs and time-to-graduation. The results indicated a longer time-to-graduation for Pell-eligible students. However, Pell-eligible students who had studied abroad graduated with comparable GPAs to their non-Pell study abroad peers…

In an era of increased accountability for colleges and concerns about an affordable education, it is useful to understand whether students can adequately manage the debt burden they hold after leaving higher education. In 2015, Texas called for cumulative undergraduate debt to be 60% or less of public institution graduates' first-year earnings by…

We examine whether college students' persistence in finding a suitable major field of study influences the likelihood of graduation. We find that students who make an effort to select a suitable major early in their college careers graduate in a more timely fashion. Although changing majors is associated with delayed graduation, struggling…

A common misperception suggests that a high-achieving student can easily complete a degree with very limited debt, and that students with high levels of debt are thus underachievers. This assumption is supported by memories of previous decades when it was realistically possible for most students to work their way through college. This view,…

In November 2014, the Colorado Community College System (CCCS) received a round three Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training (TAACCCT) grant from the United States Department of Labor. This grant, from the Colorado Helps Advanced Manufacturing Program (CHAMP), had two primary goals. The first was to facilitate the redesign…

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) collects institution-level data from postsecondary institutions in the United States (50 states and the District of Columbia) and other U.S. jurisdictions. This First Look presents findings from the provisional data of the IPEDS winter 2017-2018 data collection, which included five survey…

Postsecondary leaders and policy-makers have turned to performance-based aid programs as one way reduce time to degree completion and improve completion rates among low income students. By tying aid eligibility to minimum academic performance standards in college, it is thought that greater academic commitment can be promoted. Underlying these…

This white paper, examines state policies to improve affordability, encourage full-time enrollment, and incent timely completion of postsecondary credentials and degrees. The authors found that existing grant aid programs do not provide sufficient support to allow students with documented need to cover tuition costs and living expenses, nor do…

The analysis in this report examines the national gap and institutional-level gaps in graduation rates between Pell and non-Pell Grant recipients at nearly 1,150 four-year, public and private nonprofit institutions across the nation. The data show the national graduation rate for Pell Grant recipients attending institutions in the sample is…

Developmental education is integral to higher education in the United States. In academic year (AY) 2011-12, about one-third of all first-year undergraduates and 40 percent of first-year community college students were enrolled in at least one developmental course (NPSAS:12). Generally, students who fail to achieve adequate scores on placement…