Panel Paper: The Effects of Say Yes to Education on High School and Post-Secondary Outcomes

Thursday, November 6, 2014 : 9:10 AM
Enchantment II (Convention Center)

*Names in bold indicate Presenter

Hosung Sohn, Robert Bifulco and Ross Rubenstein, Syracuse University
This paper estimates the impact of a college scholarship offered by the Say Yes to Education program in Buffalo (SYTE) on high school completion, college going, and the type of college attended.  Initiated in Buffalo beginning in the 2012-2013 school year, the main goal of the SYTE program is to increase college enrollment by removing real and perceived financial barriers to higher education. The program is similar to place-based college scholarship programs that have been adopted in several states across the country. To address the fact that students self-select into program eligibility, we employ a regression discontinuity design (RDD) and estimate whether the SYTE scholarship offer is effective in improving graduation and post-secondary outcomes.  To be eligible for the SYTE scholarship offer, students must be continuously enrolled in a public or charter school in the city of Buffalo for at least 9th to 12th grade and graduate from a public or charter school in the city of Buffalo in June, 2013 or after. Because of this eligibility requirements, students are eligible for the scholarships if students started the 9th grade in Fall, 2009 or before. Accordingly, for the assignment variable, we use students' 9th grade enrollment dates. Since the date on which students are enrolled is determined prior to the announcement of the SYTE, the assignment variable provides an exogenous source of variations in the treatment assignment.  For the analysis, we use administrative data obtained from the Buffalo City School District. The data contains rich information on students' outcomes including the date of graduation as well as the starting date of 9th grade. Student information is also matched with the information possessed by the National Student Clearinghouse, and as a consequence, the data includes information on students' post-secondary outcomes such as post-secondary enrollment and degree records.