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Should College Be “Free”? Evidence On Free College, Early Commitment, and Merit Aid From An Eight-Year Randomized Trial

Douglas N. Harris,
Jonathan Mills

We provide evidence about college financial aid from an eight-year randomized trial where high school ninth graders received a $12,000 merit-based grant offer. The program was designed to be free of tuition/fees at community colleges and substantially lower the cost of four-year colleges. During high school, it increased students’ college expectations and low-cost effort, but not higher-cost effort, such as class attendance. The program likely increased two-year college graduation, perhaps because of the free college framing, but did not affect overall college entry, graduation, employment, incarceration, or teen pregnancy. Additional analysis helps explain these modest effects and variation in results across prior studies.

Keywords
College financial aid, college access, randomized control trials
Education level
Post-secondary education
Topics
Pathways to and Through Postsecondary
Tags
Higher education,
Student supports
Download 04/2024
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/r4nr-hr77
EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:
Harris, Douglas N., and Jonathan Mills. (). Should College Be “Free”? Evidence On Free College, Early Commitment, and Merit Aid From An Eight-Year Randomized Trial. (EdWorkingPaper: -952). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/r4nr-hr77

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