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Can Light‐Touch College‐Going Interventions Make a Difference? Evidence from a Statewide Experiment in Michigan

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  • Joshua Hyman

Abstract

I conduct a statewide experiment in Michigan with nearly 50,000 high‐achieving high school seniors. Treated students are mailed a letter encouraging them to consider college and providing them with the web address of a college information website. I find that very high‐achieving, low‐income students, and very high‐achieving, minority students are the most likely to navigate to the website. Small changes to letter content affect take‐up. For example, highlighting college affordability induces 18 percent more students to the website than highlighting college choice, and 37 percent more than highlighting how to apply to college. I find a statistically precise zero impact on college enrollment among all students who were mailed the letter. However, low‐income students experience a small increase in the probability that they enroll in college, driven by increases at four‐year institutions. An examination of persistence through college, while imprecise, suggests that the students induced into college by the intervention persist at a lower rate than the inframarginal student.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua Hyman, 2020. "Can Light‐Touch College‐Going Interventions Make a Difference? Evidence from a Statewide Experiment in Michigan," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(1), pages 159-190, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:39:y:2020:i:1:p:159-190
    DOI: 10.1002/pam.22155
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    Cited by:

    1. Bird, Kelli A. & Castleman, Benjamin L. & Denning, Jeffrey T. & Goodman, Joshua & Lamberton, Cait & Rosinger, Kelly Ochs, 2021. "Nudging at scale: Experimental evidence from FAFSA completion campaigns," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 105-128.
    2. Joshua S. Goodman & Michael Hurwitz & Christine Mulhern & Jonathan Smith, 2019. "O Brother, Where Start Thou? Sibling-Spillovers in College Enrollment," CESifo Working Paper Series 7974, CESifo.
    3. Oded Gurantz & Jessica Howell & Michael Hurwitz & Cassandra Larson & Matea Pender & Brooke White, 2021. "A National‐Level Informational Experiment to Promote Enrollment in Selective Colleges," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(2), pages 453-479, March.
    4. Gurantz, Oded & Pender, Matea & Mabel, Zachary & Larson, Cassandra & Bettinger, Eric, 2020. "Virtual advising for high-achieving high school students," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

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