Increasing Degree Attainment Among Low-Income Students: The Role of Intensive Advising and College Quality

Andrew C. Barr and Ben Castleman

No 33921, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: A college degree offers a pathway to economic mobility for low-income students. Using a multi-site randomized controlled trial combined with administrative and survey data, we demonstrate that intensive advising during high school and college significantly increases bachelor’s degree attainment among lower-income students. We leverage unique data on pre-advising college preferences and causal forest methods to show that these gains are primarily driven by improvements in initial enrollment quality. Our results suggest that strategies targeting college choice may be a more effective and efficient means of increasing degree attainment than those focused solely on affordability.

JEL-codes: H52 I24 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-06
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