The National Center for Postsecondary Research (NCPR), which is housed at CCRC, Teachers College, Columbia University, and operated in collaboration with partners MDRC, the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia, and professors at Harvard University and Princeton University, has entered its second year. Established by a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education, NCPR focuses on measuring the effectiveness of programs designed to help students make the transition to college and master basic skills needed to advance to a degree. While colleges employ multiple programs and policies designed to give students the skills they need to succeed, there is little definitive research on the effects of some widely-used practices. NCPR aims to use the most rigorous research methodologies possible, including random assignment experimental design, to evaluate such practices.

A major NCPR study on learning communities is now underway. Led by researchers from MDRC, the study involves evaluating learning communities for students in need of remediation at six community colleges around the country. The sites cover a wide range of learning communities, with some focused on developmental math, others focused on developmental English or reading, and one with a career focus. These courses are linked with student success courses, other developmental courses, and college content courses in different configurations across the sites.

Transcript-level data will be used to evaluate the impact of assigning students to a learning community, using the following outcome measures: registration for any courses; number of courses attempted (regular and developmental); number of courses passed (regular and developmental); course withdrawals; English and/or math test scores; total semesters enrolled; total credits earned; GPA; course-level information, including course title and possible credits; major; degrees or certificates awarded; and transfer to other postsecondary institutions. A paper describing the design of this study, titled The Learning Communities Demonstration: Rationale, Sites, and Research Design will soon be available on the NCPR web site, www.PostsecondaryResearch.org.

Other projects NCPR researchers are pursuing or engaged in include an evaluation of the effects of developmental education on postsecondary outcomes using a quasi-experimental regression discontinuity design by Bridget Terry Long of Harvard University and Juan Carlos Calcagno of Mathematica Policy Research. Bridget Long is also authoring a comprehensive review of research findings on the effects of financial aid on college access (titled What Is Known About The Impact of Financial Aid? Implications for Policy). Building on a project that began at CCRC, NCPR researchers are also conducting quantitative analyses of dual enrollment. The original project found a positive correlation between participation in dual enrollment and postsecondary outcomes. Using more data and different statistical techniques, NCPR researchers will estimate the strength of the causal relationship between dual enrollment and those outcomes.   

IES also provides partial support for an ongoing NCPR-related project, called the H&R Block FAFSA experiment, that is co-led by Bridget Long. This project, being undertaken in Ohio and North Carolina, provides an intervention that streamlines both the aid application process and students’ access to accurate and personalized higher education information. Using a random assignment research design, H&R Block tax professionals will help a group of eligible low- to middle-income families complete the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA). Then, families will be immediately given an estimate of their eligibility for federal and state financial aid as well as information about local, postsecondary education options. To track the impact of this intervention, the project data will be linked with college administrative files to determine which individuals elect to enroll and persist in higher education.

The study will answer key questions about the importance of information and financial barriers in college access and persistence. The researchers also aim to provide concrete examples of ways to improve college access for low-income students and to increase the effectiveness of financial aid policies.

Please visit the National Center for Postsecondary Research web site at www.PostsecondaryResearch.org.