Nudging at Scale: Experimental Evidence from FAFSA Completion Campaigns

Bird, Kelli; Castleman, Benjamin; Denning, Jeffrey T.; Goodman, Joshua; Lamberton, Cait; Rosinger, Kelly Ochs

doi:10.3386/w26158

Cited by 49 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Interestingly, such interventions have been tested in very different contexts and consistently brought little improvement in widening access to higher education for disadvantaged students. In the U.S., providing information on aid eligibility and application in tax preparation offices (Bettinger, Long, Oreopoulos, & Sanbonmatsu, 2012) or sending high school seniors text messages on the financial benefits of financial aid (Bird, Castleman, Goodman, & Lamberton, 2017) did not increase enrollment of disadvantaged students. In Finland, an information session on returns to higher education did not have any impact on transition rates of disadvantaged students (Kerr, Pekkarinen, Sarvimäki, & Uusitalo, 2014) similarly to what was found in Colombia (Bonilla, Bottan, & Ham, 2017).…”

Section: Figure 2: Selected Estimates For the Impact Of Outreach On Amentioning

confidence: 91%

What Works to Reduce Inequalities in Higher Education? A Systematic Review of the (Quasi-)Experimental Literature on Outreach and Financial Aid

Herbaut¹,

Geven²

2019

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Policy makers are increasingly searching for ways to allow more disadvantaged students to access and complete higher education. The quickly growing (quasi-)experimental literature on policy interventions in higher education provide the opportunity to identify the causal effects of these interventions on disadvantaged students and discuss inequality mechanisms at the last stage of the educational system. The paper reviews 75 studies and rigorously compares more than 200 causal effects of outreach and financial aid interventions on the access and completion rates of disadvantaged students in higher education. The paper finds that outreach policies are broadly effective in increasing access for disadvantaged students when these policies include active counseling or simplify the university application process, but not when they only provide general information on higher education. For financial aid, the paper finds that need-based grants do not systematically increase enrollment rates but only lead to improvements when they provide enough money to cover unmet need and/or include an early commitment during high school. Still, need-based grants quite consistently appear to improve the completion rates of disadvantaged students. In contrast, the evidence indicates that merit-based grants only rarely improve the outcomes of disadvantaged students. Finally, interventions combining outreach and financial aid have brought promising results, although more research on these mixed interventions is needed.

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Section: Figure 2: Selected Estimates For the Impact Of Outreach On Amentioning

confidence: 91%

What Works to Reduce Inequalities in Higher Education? A Systematic Review of the (Quasi-)Experimental Literature on Outreach and Financial Aid

Herbaut¹,

Geven²

2019

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“…However, it is worth noting that a large number of BPA interventions have failed to change behavior in significant ways—the academically dreaded but often quite important “null result.” For example, recent evidence suggests that promising nudges to increase FAFSA completion for U.S. high schoolers did not replicate when tested at scale (Bird et al ). Fortunately, BPA has, like some of its social science cousins, shown an increasing openness to the publication of meaningful and informative null results (examples include Bhanot et al (), Leight and Safran (), and the recent commitment of the OES to publish all studies, irrespective of the results).…”

Section: Behavioral Public Administration: Then and Nowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral Public Administration: Past, Present, and Future

Bhanot

Linos

2019

Public Administration Review

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The last decade has seen remarkable growth in the field of behavioral public administration, both in practice and in academia. In both domains, applications of behavioral science to policy problems have moved forward at breakneck speed; researchers are increasingly pursuing randomized behavioral interventions in public administration contexts, editors of peer‐reviewed academic journals are showing greater interest in publishing this work, and policy makers at all levels are creating new initiatives to bring behavioral science into the public sector. However, because the expansion of the field has been so rapid, there has been relatively little time to step back and reflect on the work that has been done and to assess where the field is going in the future. It is high time for such reflection: where is the field currently on track, and where might it need course correction?

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“…A second related literature, consistent with our argument that siblings can provide important information too costly or impossible to obtain otherwise, argues that "low-touch" interventions substantially underperform "high-touch" ones with respect to college choice. Multiple recent papers using nudge-style informational interventions at state or national scale fail to meaning-5 fully impact college enrollment choices (Gurantz et al, 2019;Bird et al, 2019;Hyman, 2019). Researchers testing multiple treatments often find that information only interventions have little impact on students (Bettinger et al, 2012;Carrell and Sacerdote, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

O Brother, Where Start Thou? Sibling Spillovers in College Enrollment

Goodman¹,

Hurwitz²,

Mulhern³

et al. 2019

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We study within-family spillovers in college enrollment to show college-going behavior is transmissible between peers. Because siblings' test scores are weakly correlated, we exploit college-specific admissions thresholds that directly affect older but not younger siblings' college options. Older siblings' admissibility substantially increases their own four-year college enrollment rate and quality of college attended. Their improved college choices in turn raise younger siblings' college enrollment rate and quality of college chosen, particularly for families with low predicted probabilities of college enrollment. Some younger siblings follow their older sibling to the same campus but many upgrade by choosing other colleges. The observed spillovers are not well-explained by price, income, proximity or legacy effects, but are most consistent with older siblings transmitting otherwise unavailable information about the college experience and its potential returns. The importance of such personally salient information may partly explain persistent differences in college-going rates by income, geography and other characteristics that define a community. AbstractWe study within-family spillovers in college enrollment to show college-going behavior is transmissible between peers. Because siblings' test scores are weakly correlated, we exploit college-specific admissions thresholds that directly affect older but not younger siblings' college options. Older siblings' admissibility substantially increases their own four-year college enrollment rate and quality of college attended. Their improved college choices in turn raise younger siblings' college enrollment rate and quality of college chosen, particularly for families with low predicted probabilities of college enrollment. Some younger siblings follow their older sibling to the same campus but many upgrade by choosing other colleges. The observed spillovers are not well-explained by price, income, proximity or legacy effects, but are most consistent with older siblings transmitting otherwise unavailable information about the college experience and its potential returns. The importance of such personally salient information may partly explain persistent differences in college-going rates by income, geography and other characteristics that define a community.

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Nudging at Scale: Experimental Evidence from FAFSA Completion Campaigns

Cited by 49 publications

References 23 publications

What Works to Reduce Inequalities in Higher Education? A Systematic Review of the (Quasi-)Experimental Literature on Outreach and Financial Aid

What Works to Reduce Inequalities in Higher Education? A Systematic Review of the (Quasi-)Experimental Literature on Outreach and Financial Aid

Behavioral Public Administration: Past, Present, and Future

O Brother, Where Start Thou? Sibling Spillovers in College Enrollment

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