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ERIC Number: ED618409
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Jan
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Effects of Postsecondary Grant Aid on College Student Outcomes: Briefing of Results from a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
The purpose of this study was to report on the effects of a comprehensive set of postsecondary grant aid programs on outcomes from initial college enrollment to post-college employment, based on a systematic review of the literature from January 2002 to January 2020. Studies that used randomized-controlled trials, regression discontinuity designs, difference-in-differences analyses, and quasi-experimental studies with student-level data were eligible for inclusion. Included studies also have comparison groups that did not receive the specified grant aid that the intervention group was eligible to receive or received, present baseline information for treatment and control groups, and provide sufficient information to calculate effect sizes. The results of the systematic searching and screening yielded 86 studies, across seven outcome domains, and the meta-analysis synthesized findings from 709 effect sizes from study samples representing 7,656,062 individuals. The meta-analytic results found small but meaningful positive average effects on college enrollment, credit accumulation, persistence, and completion. Available evidence did not show grant aid intervention effects for college academic achievement or post-college employment outcomes. We also found that grants had larger positive effects on credit accumulation for studies with samples of students at two-year institutions and that did not differentiate between two-year and four-year students than for studies with samples of students at four-year institutions only. Using a relatively new method called an evidence gap map, we illustrate where researchers should focus on producing new evidence. The study team encourages financial aid policymakers and practitioners to work with researchers to further advance research-based knowledge of the effects of grant programs with different characteristics on outcomes of interest for different groups of students.
Publication Type: Information Analyses
Education Level: Postsecondary Education; Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Institute of Education Sciences (ED)
Authoring Institution: Development Services Group, Inc.
IES Funded: Yes
Grant or Contract Numbers: R305A180102