Document Tag: inequality

Financial Aid Nudges: A National Experiment With Informational Interventions (2022)

Despite high prices, many college students do not re-file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or file late, making college less affordable. Low-cost technological interventions delivering personalized information and/or advising may improve refiling and academic outcomes, but questions remain regarding the efficacy of this approach at scale. This multi-pronged randomized experiment tested informational and framing text message interventions for a national sample of approximately 10,000 undergraduates. The text outreach caused earlier FAFSA re-filing for some students. However, gains in re-filing during the active intervention period were not sustained after the intervention concluded and did not translate into additional federal financial aid or improved postsecondary persistence or attainment. Implications for the scaling and targeting of nudging are discussed.

Self-reported COVID-19 infection and implications for mental health and food insecurity among American college students (2022)

While the COVID-19 pandemic affected mental health and increased food insecurity across the general population, less is known about the virus’s impact on college students. A fall 2020 survey of more than 100,000 students at 202 colleges and universities in 42 states reveals sociodemographic variation in self-reported infections, as well as associations between self-reported infection and food insecurity and mental health. We find that 7% of students self-reported a COVID-19 infection, with sizable differences by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, parenting status, and student athlete status. Students who self-reported COVID-19 infections were more likely to experience food insecurity, anxiety, and depression. Implications for higher education institutions, policy makers, and students are discussed.

Market Rhetoric versus Reality in Policy and Practice: The Workforce Investment Act and Access to Community College Education and Training (2003)

This article examines the impact of the Workforce
Investment Act (WIA) of 1998 on access to community
college education and training. The market-oriented,
customer-focused rhetoric of WIA is compared to the
realities of WIA implementation in three states: Rhode
Island, Illinois, and Florida. The authors first discuss the
emergence of WIA in the context of recent marketdriven
pressures on community colleges. Next, they provide
an overview of the relevant components of WIA.
Finally, they examine how the implementation and practice
of WIA affects the ability of low-income populations
to obtain postsecondary education. They find that WIA’s
rhetoric, intended to promote educational quality and
increase customer choice, is not reflected in either formal
policy or implementation. Important policy elements
such as accountability measures and the focus on
multiple customers have undercut the rhetoric of free
choice. Thus, in practice, WIA has actually limited
access to education and training at community colleges.

Students Are Humans First: Advancing Basic Needs Security in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic (2022)

The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly exacerbated the challenging situation facing many students in colleges and universities in the United States. To promote student success and address equity issues in higher education, there is an urgent need to treat students as humans first and attend to their basic needs. In this essay, I present evidence pointing to the fact that the pandemic has made student basic needs insecurity even worse. However, well designed and successfully implemented emergency aid programs and other innovative interventions with equity at the center can help address problems in student basic needs insecurity. I present successful examples in addressing student basic needs insecurity and call for sustained and bold actions.

Following Their Every Move: An Investigation of Social-Class Differences in College Pathways (2006)

As more Americans enter college than ever before, their pathways through the broadly differentiated
higher education system are changing. Movement in, out, and among institutions now
characterizes students’ attendance patterns—half of all undergraduates who begin at a four-year
institution go on to attend at least one other college, and over one-third take some time off from
college after their initial enrollment. This study investigated whether there is social-class variation
in these patterns, with advantaged and disadvantaged students responding to new postsecondary
choices by engaging in different pathways. National longitudinal data from postsecondary
transcripts were used to follow students across schools and to examine the importance
of family background and high school preparation in predicting forms of college attendance. The
results demonstrate that students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are more likely than
are economically advantaged students (net of prior academic preparation) to follow pathways
that are characterized by interrupted movement. Such pathways appear to be less effective
routes to the timely completion of degrees. Thus, differences in how students attend college represent
an additional layer of stratification in higher education.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in the Impact of Work-First Policies on College Access (2005)

The college participation rates of African Americans and Latinos continue to lag behind those of other
racial and ethnic groups in the United States, despite the efforts of financial aid and affirmative action
policies. Two recent federal policies that are “work-first” in nature threaten to further exacerbate
racial and ethnic disparities in college access. This article examines the complex ways in which
the 1996 welfare reform and the 1998 Workforce Investment Act differentially affect opportunitiesf or
college enrollment among disadvantaged adults. Utilizing national and state-level data, the authors
argue that both policies restrict access to postsecondary education through the implementation of
their guiding philosophy, “work-first,” which emphasizes rapid job placement as the strategy of
choice in achieving stable employment and moving out of poverty. These policies have reduced the
size of the clientele receiving welfare and restricted access to education and training for those who
remain on the rolls. Moreover, this reduction in access is particularly acute among African Americans
and Latinos. Thus, the findings indicate that these work-first federal policies serve to limit higher
education opportunities available to these already disadvantaged populations

What Higher Education Has to Say About the Transition to College (2007)

Background: Higher education researchers have much to say about the transition to college.
This field focuses primarily on inequities in college participation and completion, the relative
importance of high school preparation, and the utility of financial aid in promoting
enrollment. This literature’s strongest conceptual emphasis is on theoretical models of student
retention. Less is known about other facets of the transition to college, including different
postsecondary pathways and college outcomes.
Purpose: This paper describes the major findings of research on the transition to college contributed
by higher education, and how further research might be improved. The specific areas
covered are college preparation, college access, persistence, and college outcomes. The
reviewed literature covered extant research on the transition to college as conducted by higher
education researchers.
Research Design: This essay is an analysis of extant research on the college transition in the
field of higher education
Conclusions/Recommendations: This review highlights the field’s major shortcoming as
undertaking insufficiently rigorous, empirical testing of theories on the transition to college.
Existing research on postsecondary pathways is often compromised by data or methodological
limitations, failure to be critical in attributing causality, and not differentiating effects
occurring at different measurement levels (i.e., individual vs. institution).