Degrees of Mobility: Shifting Low-Income Students to Higher Quality Colleges

Elizabeth Burland, Nora Delaney, Susan Dynarski, Katherine B. Leu, Libassi Cj, Katherine Michelmore, Stephanie Owen, Mary A. Quiroga, Elizabeth Salinas and Susan M. Dynarski

No 12884, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Earnings inequality among college graduates has grown, and returns to a bachelor's degree (BA) vary substantially across colleges. We experimentally evaluate a program that shifted high-achieving, low-income students into higher-quality colleges. Students randomly offered a guarantee of four years of tuition and fees at the University of Michigan were 21 percentage points more likely to enroll at a UM campus. The offer shifted students across colleges rather than into college: most compliers would otherwise have attended less-selective four-year colleges. HAIL increased four-year BA completion by 4 percentage points, but had no effect on attainment after six years. It substantially increased degree quality: students offered the scholarship were 12 percentage points more likely to earn a bachelor's degree from a highly or most selective college. IV estimates indicate that students induced to attend a University of Michigan campus were 56 percentage points more likely to earn such a degree. The increase in college quality predicts earnings gains of 18 to 25 percent. Faster degree completion adds about another 1 percent to the present discounted value of lifetime earnings.

Keywords: college quality; financial aid; inequality; college completion; experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 I22 I24 I26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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