Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Research Notes: Does Lower Tuition Attract More Students to College?

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Consider the following research: I wonder what makes cars go forward. I get into 100 cars, press the accelerator in each car, and nothing happens. I conclude that pressing the accelerator does not make the car go. So what do you think? If you think this is pretty poor research, then consider the current study (65 page PDF), which looks at changing one variable - lower tuition fees - to see whether things move forward. They do not. "Relative to a synthetic match constructed from public universities in the Southeast, NC Promise did not affect first-year enrollment at the Promise institutions." There's some backpedaling in the discussion - "a need for comprehensive strategies that not only make college more affordable but also address other barriers" - but it feels to me that the five years of the program were really time wasted rather than an actual effort to effect change.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 30, 2024 4:24 p.m.

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