Setting the Stage

Millett, Catherine M.; Saunders, Stephanie R.; Kanter, Martha; Hiestand, Robyn

doi:10.2307/j.ctvxw3phv.5

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The research on effects of promise programs on student outcomes is evolving. Many promise programs are fairly new, with many states and communities introducing new programs since 2015 (Millet et al., 2020). This recency does not allow for the assessment of long‐term student outcomes.…”

Section: Theoretical Framing and Prior Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Incomplete knowledge serves as a barrier to accessing a college education. While promise programs are part of the "Free College" movement, there is no one singular college promise model and these programs vary significantly in how they support participating students (Millet et al, 2020). In some instances, colleges may offer financial aid alongside robust non-financial supports including intensive advising, career services, and special first-year experiences courses; some may require that students attend school full-time (Dynarski et al, 2022).…”

Section: Theoretical Framing and Prior Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One way to reduce costs and barriers to a college education is by lowering the total cost of college through promise programs which can provide financial, academic, and social support. Promise programs have grown exponentially across the country and in California over the last decade (Millet et al., 2020; Perna & Leigh, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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More than just money? Early outcomes of Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) College Promise Program

Escobar,

Friedmann,

Tovar

2023

New Drctns Community Coll

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Promise programs have grown in popularity as a way to provide college tuition/fees and other student supports in the hopes of increasing college access and success. This chapter presents results from a comprehensive mixed‐methods evaluation of the Lake Tahoe Community College Promise Program. Using rich administrative data and interviews with students and alumni of the program, we find that promise students successfully completed two‐thirds of units attempted and persisted at higher rates in their first year compared to first‐time full‐time non‐promise students. We also find the program has high satisfaction levels among students and alumni who participated in interviews. This chapter provides additional insights into student outcomes, students’ experiences, and areas of refinement with the various components of the LTCC College Promise Program.

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Section: Theoretical Framing and Prior Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Framing and Prior Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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More than just money? Early outcomes of Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) College Promise Program

Escobar,

Friedmann,

Tovar

2023

New Drctns Community Coll

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Scholarship has struggled with this phenomenon. Definitional problems abound: What precisely are Promise programs, and what distinguishes them from other state and local scholarships (Miller-Adams 2009, 2015, 2021; Millet et al 2020; Perna and Leigh 2018; Swanson et al 2020)? How do they vary, and do they have essential features (Iriti, Page, and Bickel 2018; Miller-Adams 2021; Millet, Saunders, and Fishtein 2018; Perna and Leigh 2017)?…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

College Promise Programs as Symbolic Politics

Monaghan

Attewell

2023

Sociol Educ

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Since the Tennessee Promise’s 2014 launch, “free college” or “Promise” programs have proliferated rapidly and converged on design features: a “last-dollar” award and community college applicability. Researchers who study these programs’ effects generally presume they are tuition-reducing endeavors. In contrast, we argue that many such programs are exercises in “symbolic politics,” that is, they perform organizational altruism and meet survival imperatives while minimally reducing real costs. We illustrate this by detailing the creation, implementation, and results of a Promise program at a large community college. Cost concerns and the need to appeal to critical publics led the college to adopt a last-dollar design and numerous eligibility criteria. Consequently, few applicants were funded. However, many applicants believed they had received the scholarship, the college’s enrollment increased, and the program received widespread acclaim. We discuss implications for higher education policy and the applicability of symbolic politics to organizational action.

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“…The commonest explanation involves “messaging effects.” That is, by offering a “simple, clear message” about college affordability, LDCC programs shift student perceptions and therefore actions. The “message” assures the student they need not worry about some component of college costs (usually tuition) (Millet et al, 2020; Perna & Smith, 2020). Promise programs are thus in part informational interventions (Billings, 2018b).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

How Well Do Students Understand “Free Community College”? Promise Programs as Informational Interventions

Monaghan

2023

AERA Open

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Given the low price of community college relative to need-based aid, last-dollar “free community college” (i.e., Promise) programs often only marginally reduce students’ real costs. Given this reality, some claim that these programs impact students largely through “messaging”: information conveying the affordability of community college. However, it is unclear how such messaging works in concept or practice. Drawing on a case study, I document the paradoxical ways last-dollar community college Promise programs alter students’ understanding of college affordability. Reflecting program marketing, students typically understood the program as simply “free college,” with little grasp of last-dollar structure or eligibility criteria. Many believed the Promise program paid their tuition, but administrative data showed the program funded very few students. Student misunderstanding of the program is traceable to a baseline conception of college as “expensive” and to a tenuous grasp of need-based aid. Promise programs’ “messaging effects” are predicated upon such prevalent misconceptions. The “message” is a mixture of clarification and misdirection, revealing a factual situation (that community college is often “tuition-free”) through an equivocation (that the Promise program is making it free).

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Setting the Stage

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

More than just money? Early outcomes of Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) College Promise Program

More than just money? Early outcomes of Lake Tahoe Community College (LTCC) College Promise Program

College Promise Programs as Symbolic Politics

How Well Do Students Understand “Free Community College”? Promise Programs as Informational Interventions

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