College Readiness Assessment
Category: Pathways to and Through Postsecondary
A growing volume of research shows college promise programs increase the likelihood that students enroll in and complete college. Place-based promise programs provide a guaranteed college scholarship for students who attend a specified school district. We examine the societal benefits and costs of a place-based scholarship program in rural Arkansas, the El Dorado Promise. Our cost framework treats tuition payments as a cash transfer that shifts the cost burden of higher education, rather than causing new societal costs. Findings show the program provides societal benefits equal to $4.6 for each dollar invested. Our Monte Carlo simulations show that the program produces benefits to society that exceed costs in 91 percent of scenarios, providing a high likelihood of positive returns.
Keywords
Benefit-cost analysis, higher education finance, college affordability, college promise programs, college access and success, returns to higher education
Education level
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/gff7-1862
