Research projects

This study aims to understand student, counselor, and policy maker experiences with state financial aid programs, like the Tuition Incentive Program, and how they shape student postsecondary decisions and the affordability of postsecondary options in Michigan. Using interviews with high school students, high school counselors, college advisors, and those tasked with outreach and implementation, we will better understand multiple perspectives on state financial aid implementation and its usefulness at giving students more postsecondary choices.  We plan to talk to students and counselors...

The purpose of this project is to evaluate how the Tuition Incentive Program (TIP), a large first-dollar aid program in Michigan, impacts postsecondary outcomes for low-income high school students. This project is the first rigorous evaluation of TIP, which will yield broader lessons for college affordability policy in other states and at the federal level.The research team is using a mixed-methods approach. In the first stage of the project, the researcher team has utilized administrative data to perform a descriptive analysis of program eligibility and take-up. To estimate TIP program...

The barriers facing community college students are numerous. An elite higher education institution, like the University of Michigan, can play a transformative role in the economic mobility of low-income students through programs like HAIL Scholars, but relatively few low-income students ever matriculate at such institutions. Community colleges are  good places to find high-achieving, low-income students who would benefit from further enrollment at institutions like U-M. In this project, researchers will develop and implement a randomized controlled trial of an intervention that aims to...

This study gathers and analyzes data from qualitative interviews with high school students in Michigan. These interviews ask students to describe their college decision making process and to what extent financial aid programs or interventions were effective at influencing their postsecondary decisions. The information gathered through this project provides vital insight, directly from the student perspective, on how financial aid interventions work and who they work for. Moreover, this project sheds light on the link between postsecondary inequality and student decision-making. Finally, the...

In 2020, the Michigan Legislature asked that the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) produce a report analyzing trends in college acceleration program participation in Michigan and the extent to which postsecondary access and outcomes is improved as a result of these programs. To meet these aims, MDE has partnered with EPI to study enrollment, performance, and postsecondary outcomes for students who enrolled in international baccalaureate (IB), advanced placement (AP), dual or concurrent enrollment (DE), early or middle college high schools (EMC), and career and technical education (CTE)...

EPI researchers and University of Michigan administrators developed and piloted the HAIL scholarship research program to attract low-income, high-achieving students to consider applying to and enrolling in the university. The project addresses three issues known to affect college application behavior among low-income, high-achieving students: uncertainty about their suitability for an elite school, over-estimates by students and parents of the net cost of college, and procedural barriers such as aid applications. The intervention targets low-income, high-achieving students in Michigan, as...

It has long been said that the transition from high school to college is a difficult one and that the presence of college remedial classes can be instrumental in helping students catch up to advanced coursework. This is especially true for math, a subject in which, as of 2003-2004, almost 40% of college students required remedial learning. Dual-credit policy seeks to solve this problem by offering high school students the opportunity to learn college content and earn college credit while still in high school. This intervention aligns high school and college coursework, not only to reduce the...