Alex B. Monday

Many high school students access dual enrollment at 2-year colleges, but the credits associated with their college-level courses may not transfer if they later matriculate to 4-year institutions as first-year undergraduates. In this study, we ask whether statewide articulation agreements can support the postsecondary success of participants by preserving the credits earned and facilitating academic momentum. Employing the administrative data of students in Georgia, we use a difference-in-differences approach to investigate the effect of the state’s 2012 policy on 4-year college undergraduates who participated in dual enrollment at 2-year colleges. We find a positive impact of the policy on timely degree completion, but the effect is conditional, as it applied only to students who completed the coursework identified by the articulation agreement.

While research has documented outcomes for students served by promise programs, few studies have considered the behavior of institutions themselves in the promise era. A new source of revenue combined with larger and more diverse cohorts is likely to motivate changes in spending and staffing—decisions instrumental to student access and success. We employ complementary difference-in-differences and synthetic control strategies to estimate impacts of the first statewide promise program on these two outcomes. Findings suggest institutions diverted expenditures away from instruction, academic support, and institutional support toward greater institutional grant awards. We find no meaningful impact on staffing levels. While some institutional actions may further support the access and success goals of promise programs, the diversity of programs across the nation suggests not all may follow suit. This study should inform policy makers considering the full extent of outcomes of free-college programs and invigorate further research on institutional responses.