Can the Promise of Free Education Improve College Attainment? Lessons from the Milwaukee Area Technical College Promise
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21752001 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Drew M Anderson (0000-0003-0643-3395, RAND Corporation, corresponding author), David B Monaghan (0000-0001-5116-5487, Shippensburg University), David Monaghan (0000-0001-5047-1116), Jed Richardson, Jed T Richardson (University of Wisconsin–Madison) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Pages | 1747-1770 |
| Publication date | 2024-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Research in Higher Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1573-188X • E-ISSN: 0361-0365 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11162-024-09811-9 |
| OpenAlex | W4400651317 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 55 |
This study found that the MATC Promise increased college attainment by encouraging Milwaukee high school students to access state and federal aid, and to consider matriculating to their local two-year college. The MATC Promise exemplifies the last-dollar model of college aid. If seniors at Milwaukee area public high schools complete academic milestones, apply for financial aid, qualify based on low family income, and matriculate to Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), then the Promise covers any remaining tuition charges. The message promoting free college was the program’s main element, since the funding support for eligible students came primarily from existing state and federal aid. We studied outcomes for the first four graduating classes after the Promise was launched, compared to the trend in Milwaukee for the previous six graduating classes. The rate of matriculation to MATC increased from 10 percent to 15 percent. There was no such increase in matriculation to other technical college districts around the state, suggesting that the increase was caused by the Promise. The increase in enrollment was larger among lower-income students and those in the urban Milwaukee Public Schools. Those students were more likely to apply for financial aid earlier, regardless of whether they ultimately qualified for the Promise, and their rate of matriculation to any college increased from 45 percent to 49 percent. There was no indication that attracting additional students to college led to lower graduation rates, though we were limited to examining credentials earned in two years or less
Economic growth · Economics · Educational attainment · Higher education · Liberian dollar · Matriculation · Medical education · Political science · Public university · Engineering · Global Educational Reforms and Inequalities · Higher Education Research Studies · Medicine · Psychology · Public Administration · School Choice and Performance · Finance
Paying the Price
The Role of Application Assistance and Information in College Decisions
Conducting Interrupted Time-series Analysis for Single- and Multiple-group Comparisons
Improving college access in the United States
Closing the Gap
The College Promise in Communities
Incentives and Existing Stratification
Evidence of Failure
Learning from the Test
Experimental Evidence on the Impacts of Need‐Based Financial Aid
What Does Free Community College Buy? Early Impacts from the Oregon Promise
Understanding the Promise
The ACT of Enrollment
Do Promise Programs Reduce Student Loans? Evidence from Tennessee Promise
The Costs of College Attendance
Can Free Community College Close Racial Disparities in Postsecondary Attainment? How Tulsa Achieves Affects Racially Minoritized Student Outcomes
College Promise Programs as Symbolic Politics
Real and imagined barriers to college entry
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |