Improving College Access in the United States: Barriers and Policy Responses

Lindsay C. Page and Judith Scott-Clayton

No 21781, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Socioeconomic gaps in college enrollment and attainment have widened over time, despite increasing returns to postsecondary education and significant policy efforts to improve access. We describe the barriers that students face during the transition to college and review the evidence on potential policy solutions. We focus primarily on research that examines causal relationships using experimental or quasi-experimental methods, though we draw upon descriptive evidence to provide context. Our review is distinctive in three respects. First, in addition to the literature on financial aid, we examine the evidence on informational and behavioral interventions, academic programs, and affirmative action policies intended to improve college access. Second, we incorporate a wealth of recent research not included in prior reviews. Finally, we conceptualize college access broadly, as including not just whether but also where students attend and whether they have access to college-level courses. We conclude with a discussion of implications for policy and research.

JEL-codes: I22 I23 I24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu
Note: ED
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published as Lindsay C. Page & Judith Scott-Clayton, 2016. "Improving college access in the United States: Barriers and policy responses," Economics of Education Review, vol 51, pages 4-22.

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.nber.org/papers/w21781.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21781

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.nber.org/papers/w21781

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().