AEA Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
Inducing Cross-Sector Enrollment for Community College Students through Burden Reduction
AEA Papers and Proceedings
(pp. 371–375)
Abstract
Although most community college students intend to earn a bachelor’s degree, few successfully transfer to a four-year university. California’s cross-enrollment policy was intended to reduce transfer barriers by allowing community college students to take courses at public universities, yet participation remains extremely low. We present results from a student-level randomized experiment at three California community colleges designed to reduce informational, logistical, and financial barriers to cross-enrollment. Despite substantial student interest, the intervention increased applications by only 1.2 percentage points and successful enrollment by 0.7 percentage points. Results underscore the limits of individual-level supports in the face of complex procedural barriers.Citation
Baker, Rachel, Michael Hill, Gala Ledezma, Joshua Dorman, Loris Fagioli, Pablo Bezem, Michael Cooper, and XunFei Li. 2026. "Inducing Cross-Sector Enrollment for Community College Students through Burden Reduction." AEA Papers and Proceedings 116: 371–375. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20261104Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H75 State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
- I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
- I28 Education: Government Policy