Increasing Degree Attainment among Low-Income Students: The Role of Intensive Advising and College Quality†

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Barr, Andrew; Castleman, Benjamin
• 署名单位: Texas A&M University System; Texas A&M University College Station; University of Virginia
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282; 1944-7981
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.20240669
• 发表日期: 2025-11
• 页码: 4075-4103
• 关键词: information; enrollment

摘要

A college degree offers a pathway to economic mobility for low-income students. Using a multisite randomized controlled trial combined with administrative and survey data, we demonstrate that intensive advising during high school and college significantly increases bachelor's degree attainment among lower-income students. We leverage unique data on preadvising college preferences and causal forest methods to show that these gains are primarily driven by improvements in initial enrollment quality. Our results suggest that strategies targeting college choice may be a more effective and efficient means of increasing degree attainment than those focused solely on affordability. (JEL G51, I21, I22, I23)