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Curbing adult student attrition. Evidence from a field experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Raj Chande
  • Michael Luca
  • Michael Sanders
  • Zhi Soon
  • Oana Borcan
  • Netta Barak-Corren
  • Elizabeth Linos
  • Elspeth Kirkman
Abstract
Roughly 20% of adults in the OECD lack basic numeracy and literacy skills. In the UK, many colleges offer fully government subsidized adult education programs to improve these skills. Constructing a unique dataset consisting of weekly attendance records for 1179 students, we find that approximately 25% of learners stop attending these programs in the first ten weeks and that average attendance rates deteriorate by 20% in that time. We implement a large-scale field experiment in which we send encouraging text messages to students. Our initial results show that these simple text messages reduce the proportion of students that stop attending by 36% and lead to a 7% increase in average attendance relative to the control group. The effects on attendance rates persist through the three weeks of available data following the initial intervention.

Suggested Citation

  • Raj Chande & Michael Luca & Michael Sanders & Zhi Soon & Oana Borcan & Netta Barak-Corren & Elizabeth Linos & Elspeth Kirkman, 2015. "Curbing adult student attrition. Evidence from a field experiment," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 15/335, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
  • Handle: RePEc:bri:cmpowp:15/335
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    File URL: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/cmpo/documents/WP14335Web_Version.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Castleman, Benjamin L. & Page, Lindsay C., 2015. "Summer nudging: Can personalized text messages and peer mentor outreach increase college going among low-income high school graduates?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 144-160.
    2. Amanda Pallais, 2013. "Small Differences that Matter: Mistakes in Applying to College," NBER Working Papers 19480, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Milkman, Katherine L. & Beshears, John Leonard & Choi, James J. & Laibson, David I. & Madrian, Brigitte, 2011. "Using Implementation Intentions Prompts to Enhance Influenza Vaccination Rates," Scholarly Articles 8057976, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    4. Eric Bettinger & Rachel Baker, 2011. "The Effects of Student Coaching in College: An Evaluation of a Randomized Experiment in Student Mentoring," NBER Working Papers 16881, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Hunt Allcott & Todd Rogers, 2014. "The Short-Run and Long-Run Effects of Behavioral Interventions: Experimental Evidence from Energy Conservation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3003-3037, October.
    6. Eric P. Bettinger & Bridget Terry Long & Philip Oreopoulos & Lisa Sanbonmatsu, 2012. "The Role of Application Assistance and Information in College Decisions: Results from the H&R Block Fafsa Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 127(3), pages 1205-1242.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Maya Haran Rosen & Orly Sade, 2022. "The Disparate Effect of Nudges on Minority Groups," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 11(3), pages 605-643.

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