Institutional Practices for Improving Higher Education Equity

To improve equity in higher education attainment, policymakers and practitioners need knowledge of the policies and practices that will effectively improve higher education attainment especially among groups that are historically underrepresented in higher education. This project is intended to improve knowledge of the policies and practices that will effectively improve higher education attainment especially among groups that are historically underrepresented in higher education.

This project has two components:  

(1) Institutional Predictors: “Institutional predictors” uses data from IPEDS and the Delta Cost Project to identify potential levers that public and private not-for-profit four-year institutions may use to improve graduation rates for Pell Grant recipients. Our analyses extend prior research by considering the relationship between institutional resource allocations and bachelor’s degree completion rates specifically for Pell grant recipients, rather than overall institutional graduation rates. We also consider the relationship between institutional pricing decisions and completion rates, and we examine whether the predictors of graduation rates for Pell recipients are different from the predictors of graduation rates for non-Pell recipients.

(2) Questioning the Calculations: “Questioning the Calculations” examines the cost-related information that colleges and universities are providing on their websites. Read more about Questioning the Calculations.