The impact of the promise of scholarships and altering school structure on college plans, preparation, and enrollment

The Washington State Achiever (WSA) program was a large-scale educational intervention of scholarships, mentoring, and school redesign designed to encourage students from moderate and low income families to attend college in Washington State. Using a quasi-experimental design based on pre- and post-intervention surveys of high school seniors in program and non-program schools, we find a significant WSA effect on educational outcomes, net of the demographic and socioeconomic composition of students across schools. Across the three intervention high schools, the program is strongly significant in one school, significant after a lag in another school, and not significant in a third. We speculate about the potential reasons for the differential program effect across high schools.

► We examine whether the Washington State Achiever program increases college plans and attainment.
► We use a quasi-experimental design based on pre- and post-intervention surveys of high school seniors.
► We find a (significant) net positive program effect on 4-year college attendance.
► The magnitude of the program effect is uneven across school contexts.