Effectiveness of Promising Strategies in Federal College Access Programs: Study of College Transition Text Messaging in GEAR UP
Contract Information
Current Status:
The final report has been published.
Duration:
September 2012 – February 2023
Cost:
$6,267,051
Contract Number:
ED-IES-12-C-0087
Contractor(s):
Abt Associates
Mathematica
Program and Policy Insight
Survey Research Management
Contact:
The complex process of applying to, enrolling in, and staying in college is one of many barriers to postsecondary success that low-income students face. Emerging research suggested that customized text message reminders that also connect students to advisors could help. This demonstration evaluated a promising text messaging strategy that addressed hurdles that are both procedural – registration, course selection, tuition payments, getting to office hours, FAFSA refiling – and psychological, such as concerns about fitting in and doing well. The strategy was offered to seniors in a group of high schools participating in Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), a U.S. Department of Education college access program that serves students in high-need schools beginning in 7th grade. The messaging helped the schools take advantage of a new opportunity, introduced in the 2008 amendments to the Higher Education Act, for GEAR UP grantees to support a first year of college transition.
- Does the text messaging and advisor support improve students' rates of college enrollment and persistence?
- For which types of students is the strategy more or less beneficial?
The demonstration recruited high schools in GEAR UP programs that were the first eligible to support a year of post-high school services. Across about 80 schools, almost 5,000 seniors in school years 2015–2016 or 2016–2017 were randomly assigned to receive the college transition services grantees originally proposed in their applications or those services plus the personalized reminders and advisor support through text messages. Reminders and support began at the end of students' high school senior year and continued into the spring of their expected first year of college. The study team administered a survey before the reminder messaging began to collect information on students' experiences with college advising and their intended college (so that the messages could be tailored to individual schools' deadlines and requirements). College enrollment and persistence, as well as FAFSA renewal, were tracked into students' expected second year of college using administrative records.
A report titled Study of College Transition Messaging in GEAR UP: Impacts on Enrolling and Staying in College was released in February 2021.
Based on the final analyses:
- Students sent text messages were no more likely to enroll or persist in college than were other students. The messaging did not increase college enrollment in the fall after high school or through the first year and into a second year of college. The messages also did not affect whether students completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
- Messaging went as planned, but the information students and advisors had may have been among the factors that limited its effectiveness. Students and their mostly high school-based GEAR UP advisors communicated back and forth via texting. But each advisor supported an average of 40 students dispersed to 8 colleges; providing college-specific information for that caseload may have been challenging. Also, the students might have had more college advising and knowledge in high school than students in other texting studies where transition messaging showed some benefits.
Early studies of low-cost text-message-based advising generated enthusiasm because of their potential to help improve college access. However, accumulating evidence indicates the messaging is only effective in a small set of situations. Researchers continue to adapt technology-based advising as new information emerges about how and in what contexts it seems to work. This study underscores the importance of repeated replications to build an evidence base for an initially promising approach.