Tuition‐free promise programs: Implications and lessons learned

Billings, Meredith S.; Gándara, Denisa; Li, Amy Y.

doi:10.1002/cc.20485

Cited by 7 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(47 reference statements)

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“…Promise researchers argue that Promise programs may also affect students through additional support services (Billings et al 2021; Perna and Leigh 2018). Through interviews with administrators and staff, we mapped changes to support services.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much research has examined these programs’ effects (Billings et al 2021; Davidson et al 2018; Perna and Smith 2020; Swanson et al 2020). The most common findings are that programs boost enrollment at and lead students to choose applicable colleges (Bartik, Hershbein, and Lachowska 2021; Li and Gándara 2020; Long, Goldhaber, and Gratz 2021), that generous local scholarships boost enrollment in targeted K–12 districts (LeGower and Walsh 2017), and that scholarships applicable at four-year schools shift students to those colleges, whereas community college scholarships shift them away (Bartik et al 2021; Carruthers and Fox 2016).…”

Section: Theory and Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A growing body of research investigates these programs' effects on college access and completion (e.g., Bell 2021) and on eligible colleges (e.g., Li and Ga ´ndara 2020). Researchers have presumed these programs' effects occur through reducing college costs for many students (Billings, Ga ´ndara, and Li 2021), rarely asking how many students receive funding or how much they receive.…”

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confidence: 99%

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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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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theory and Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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College Promise Programs as Symbolic Politics

Monaghan

Attewell

2023

Sociol Educ

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“…Given its focus on early and uncharacteristically generous programs, findings from extant Promise research may not generalize to newer programs. Studies of last-dollar community college programs suggest that those which are more universal have stronger positive impacts (Billings et al, 2021). Knox Achieves boosted college enrollment by 2 to 4 percentage points (differences-in-differences estimate) or 24 percentage points (matching estimate) (Carruthers & Fox, 2016).…”

Section: Conceptual Framework and Prior Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Community College “Promise” Programs With Low-Bar Merit Criteria Improve High School Performance?

Monaghan

Coca

2023

Community College Review

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Objective/Research Question: Community college “Promise” programs have proliferated recently, particularly in areas with many low-income, academically struggling students. Many Promise programs restrict eligibility by high school performance but set eligibility thresholds quite low. As such they function as “low-bar” merit scholarships, and merit scholarships are often believed to incentivize improved academic performance. But do such “low-bar” merit scholarships boost high school attendance and grades? Methods: We investigate impacts of one such program, the Milwaukee Area Technical College Promise, on high school students in Milwaukee Public Schools, exploiting program design features to identify treatment effects through a differences-in-differences strategy. Results: The program appears to have marginally improved high school grades while slightly lowering attendance. These effects cancel each other out in terms of meeting combined GPA and attendance eligibility thresholds. Estimated positive impacts on GPA were statistically significant but very small for males, Black students, free lunch eligible students, special education students and current English language learners, while impacts on attendance were negative for most subgroups. The positive GPA effect was restricted to the program’s second year. Conclusions: We do not find strong evidence that low-bar scholarships are effective at improving academic performance. Policymakers should reconsider conventional wisdom underlying inclusion of merit criteria in broad-based scholarships.

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“…Promise programs represent a new wave of financial aid programs that emphasize residency over other eligibility criteria such as academic merit or financial need (Billings et al., 2021; Miller‐Adams, 2015). These programs offer scholarships that can cover students’ tuition and fees at universities, community colleges, and/or technical colleges.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Financing promise programs: Where the money comes from and where the money goes

Billings,

Li,

Gándara

et al. 2023

New Drctns Community Coll

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Free college/promise programs provide scholarships that cover students’ tuition and fees to attend college. These programs are flexible in that they can be adapted to local and/or state needs when crafting the design, scope, and benefits offered to students. Based on their adaptability, there is variation in the funding of these programs due to the available financial resources and programs’ ability to leverage established community and state partnerships. This chapter discusses how local and state promise programs are funded, what their funding covers, and how these programs affect postsecondary institutions’ finances. Also described are how promise programs have adapted to changing financial circumstances, especially during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Finally, the chapter provides recommendations for their financial sustainability.

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Tuition‐free promise programs: Implications and lessons learned

Cited by 7 publications

References 17 publications

College Promise Programs as Symbolic Politics

College Promise Programs as Symbolic Politics

Do Community College “Promise” Programs With Low-Bar Merit Criteria Improve High School Performance?

Financing promise programs: Where the money comes from and where the money goes

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