Document Author: Tammy Kolbe
From the (Academic) middle to the top: an evaluation of the AVID/TOPS college access program (2018)
Despite overall increases in college-going, college enrollment rates
remain inequitable. Many programs attempt to address these persistent racial/ethnic and social class disparities in college attendance by
intervening in the high school curriculum. Advancement Via
Individual Determination (AVID) is among the longest standing and
prevalent of these college access programs. In this paper, we present
findings from a multi-year evaluation and cost analysis of the AVID/
TOPS program – an enhanced AVID model – in place in Madison
Metropolitan School District (Wisconsin). Taken together, the evaluation’s findings characterize AVID/TOPS as a promising program
model that is associated with an increased likelihood for college
readiness and matriculation, particularly for student groups underrepresented in higher education. We also report on the resources and
costs required to implement the program, and show that the program’s benefits appear to exceed its costs.
A Matter of Trust: Applying Insights From Social Psychology to Make College Affordable (2016)
The rising price of higher education threatens educational opportunity and social mobility for the most vulnerable Americans.
Increasing college attendance benefits individuals and society, but efforts to reduce the price via financial aid rely primarily on
economic theory: emphasizing short-term investments for long-term gains, and aiming for efficiency by targeting a narrow band
of the population. Yet financial aid as currently implemented fails to effectively counter price barriers to college attainment.
We argue that these failures are due, in part, to policies that were built on a narrow set of behavioral assumptions about
the role of pricing in individuals’ decisions to attend college. Insights from social psychology highlight decisions’ relational
processes and contexts. Existing policy failures have eroded public trust in financial aid as a legitimate, viable mechanism for
college affordability. Cost-effective reforms that rebuild trust are a promising direction for future policy making.