Publications

Perna, L.W., Wright-Kim, J., & Leigh, E. (2021, April 5). Free college programs can enable more student to go to college, but it all depends on how the program is designed. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/free-college-programs-can-enable-more-students-to-go-to-college-but-it-all-depends-on-how-the-program-is-designed-157651

Perna, L.W., Wright-Kim, J., & Leigh, E. (2021). Will college promise programs improve or reduce equity? Understanding the contextual conditions that influence implementation. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 29(26). This article is part of the special issue, Policy Implementation as an Instrument to Achieve Educational Equity in the Community College Context, guest edited by Eric R. Felix, H. Kenny Nienhusser, Ángel Gonzalez, Luz Burgos-López. https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/5436/2594

Perna, L.W., Wright-Kim, J., & Leigh, E. (2020, December). Recognizing the implications of promise program design for equity and efficiency. College Promise, Policy Brief.

Perna, L. W., Wright-Kim, J., & Leigh, E. (2020). Is a College Promise Program an Effective Use of Resources? Understanding the Implications of Program Design and Resource Investments for Equity and Efficiency. AERA Open. Online first: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2332858420967633

Perna, L.W., & Smith, E. (Eds., 2019). Improving Research-Based Knowledge of College Promise Programs. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.

Rauner, M., Perna, L.W., & Kanter, M. (2018, November). California college promise: Program characteristics and perceptions from the field. San Francisco, CA: WestEd.

Perna, L.W., & Leigh, E. (2018). Understanding the promise: A typology of state and local college promise programs. Educational Researcher. Online first: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0013189X17742653

Perna, L.W., Leigh, E., & Carroll, S. (2017). “Free college:” A new and improved state approach to increasing educational attainment? American Behavioral Scientist, 61, 1740-1757. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0002764217744821

Perna, L. W. (2016, October). Delivering on the promise: Structuring college promise programs to promote higher education attainment for students from underserved groups. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania, Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy. 

Videos

EPAA. (2021, February 26). Dr. Perna, Wright-Kim, and Leigh on College Promise Programs [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ModWDH83LeU

American Educational Research Association. (2019, December 10). Improving Research-Based Knowledge of College Promise Programs [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=680sTwk4CH0

Presentations

May 29, 2019 College Promise Conference co-sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and Penn AHEAD (video and materials available)

University of Delaware. 2018, October 30. Biden Challenge Plenary III - The Role of Innovation. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeOTVYbSB-I

Blog Posts

• Free college programs can enable more students to go to college, but it all depends on how the program is designed - The Conversation, April 5, 2021
• “Improving Research-Based Knowledge of College Promise Programs,” Q&A with AERA volume co-editors Laura Perna and Edward Smith - American Educational Research Association, November 2019
• Free College: A promising innovation for promoting educational attainment? - The Biden Challenge, September 28, 2018
• Can college ‘promise’ programs deliver? - The Conversation, December 12, 2017
• College Promise Programs: Designing Programs to Achieve the Promise - Higher Ed Today, February 13, 2017

Media Mentions

• Kenney calls for tuition-free community college in Philadelphia, but details remain vague - The Philadelphia Tribune, January 18, 2020
• 5 tips for reporting on ‘free college’ and ‘college promise’ programs - Journalist's Resource, October 7, 2019
• Go to colleg e for free — yes, free — at these Pa. and N.J. schools - The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 15, 2019
• Popular “free college” programs yield mixed results - The Hechinger Report, October 1, 2018
• If 'Free College' Sounds Too Good To Be True, That's Because It Often Is- National Public Radio, September 12, 2018
• Keep the College Promise- U.S. News and World Report, October 17, 2017
• Here’s a Map of ‘Free College’ Programs Nationwide- Chronicle of Higher Education, March 29, 2017
• Free college didn’t die with the Clinton campaign. It’s just getting started- The Hechinger Report, March 23, 2017
• Replicating the Tennessee Promise - Inside Higher Ed, March 2, 2017
• Tennessee Promise inspires national trend - Tennessean, February 10, 2017
• U Penn Launches College Promise Online Database - Campus Technology, October 31, 2016
• New College Promise Database - Inside Higher Ed, October 25, 2016
• Will LeBron James’ Assist Actually Get Disadvantaged Youth Through College? - Diverse Issues in Higher Education, June 19, 2016

Inquiries

For more information, please contact Penn AHEAD.