Working Paper

Experimental Evidence on Early Intervention: The Impact of Full-day Kindergarten

Authors: Chloe R. Gibbs

Nearly all school-age children in the United States attend kindergarten, and approximately three-quarters of kindergarten students are in full-day classrooms. While there have been dramatic increases in provision of and participation in full-day kindergarten, there is little evidence on the impact and cost-effectiveness of such programs and policies, particularly as compared to other types of investments in early childhood.

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Working Paper

College Advising at a National Scale: Experimental Evidence from the CollegePoint initiative

Authors: Zach Sullivan, Benjamin Castleman, Eric Bettinger

In recognition of the complexity of the college and financial aid application process, and in response to insufficient access to family or school-based counseling among economically-disadvantaged populations, investments at the local, state, and federal level have expanded students’ access to college and financial aid advising. Experimental and quasi-experimental studies of these programs demonstrate that they can generate substantial improvements in the rate at which low-income students enroll and persist in college.

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Working Paper

Nudging at Scale: Experimental Evidence from FAFSA Completion Campaigns

Authors: Kelli A. Bird, Benjamin Castleman, Jeffrey T. Denning, Joshua Goodman, Cait Lamberton, Kelly Ochs Rosinger

Do nudge interventions that have generated positive impacts at a local level maintain efficacy when scaled state or nationwide? What specific mechanisms explain the positive impacts of promising smaller-scale nudges? We investigate, through two randomized controlled trials, the impact of a national and state-level campaign to encourage students to apply for financial aid for college. 

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Working Paper

The Effect of Reduced Student Loan Borrowing on Academic Performance and Default: Evidence from a Loan Counseling Experiment

Authors: Andrew Barr, Kelli Bird, Benjamin Castleman

Student loan borrowing for higher education has emerged as a top policy concern. Policy makers at the institutional, state, and federal levels have pursued a variety of strategies to inform students
about loan origination processes and how much a student has cumulatively borrowed, and to provide students with greater access to loan counseling.

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