Search Annenberg

A brief on summer melt — when college-intending graduates never enroll — identifying four evidence-based models districts can use to keep students on track: nudges, counselor outreach, peer mentoring, and summer bridge programs.

A handbook chapter reviewing the economics literature on nonfinancial barriers to college — from narrow interventions to comprehensive programs and systemic solutions — and what the evidence says about closing access gaps.

A brief on how schools can help students navigate college choices — what raises enrollment, what guidance on where to apply matters most, and which common strategies the evidence doesn't support.

Andrew Camp

A large-scale study of text message campaigns encouraging low-income students toward college, finding no overall effect nationally — but meaningful gains in Texas, where messages came from senders students already knew.

A randomized trial of AI chatbot outreach to incoming college students, finding gains concentrated among would-be first-generation students in financial aid, course registration, and fall enrollment.

A study of Achieve Atlanta's place-based scholarship, finding it didn't shift college enrollment at the eligibility thresholds but substantially improved persistence and four-year degree completion among students who enrolled.

Ang Li

A study of whether private scholarship awards actually increase what students receive, or get offset by reductions in institutional and other aid — a question with direct stakes for scholarship providers.

A handbook chapter reviewing the economics literature on college costs and financial aid — how price, aid design, and complexity shape which students enroll, where they go, and whether they finish.

A national experiment with roughly 10,000 undergraduates testing text-message nudges to encourage FAFSA re-filing — finding earlier filing for some students, but no lasting gains in aid, persistence, or attainment.

A four-year study of an AI text-messaging chatbot at a large urban public university, examining what makes such systems sustainable and where their effects on students actually show up.

Two large experiments testing an AI chatbot's outreach to college students, finding it works best for discrete, time-sensitive administrative tasks like financial aid forms and registration holds.

Anjali Pai

A pre-registered experiment finding that AI chatbot outreach in large undergraduate courses raised students' final grades and increased their use of academic supports like tutoring.

A methods paper comparing randomization strategies in college field experiments, finding that individual-level assignment holds up better against contamination than expected — with practical guidance for balancing power and risk.

Behind the Scenes: Faculty-Staff Collaboration in a Student Success Effort

Ann Mantil

A screening of Tara Moore's documentary Legacy: Apartheid's Shadow, co-hosted by Annenberg and Africana Studies/Rites and Reason Theatre. Thursday, September 24 at 4:30 p.m.

Mainstay's blog covers Annenberg research by Catherine Mata and Lindsay Page finding that students read and value chatbot messages even when they don't reply — low opt-outs, high reported usefulness.