| Increasing America's baccalaureate attainment rate is critical to the nation's future success and prosperity. Recent research has demonstrated that disparities in college knowledge are a main cause for the gaps in college completion between demographic groups. However, traditional interventions to improve college access and completion such as financial aid and affirmative action fail to prepare students for success in college. This study examines the effectiveness of a third intervention type, pre-college programs, on college outcomes. Utilizing data collected on a census survey of University of California (UC) undergraduates merged with UC administrative and publicly available data, this study sought to investigate the characteristics of students participating in the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID), Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP), Mathematics, Engineering, Science, Achievement (MESA), and Talent Search Programs using multi-level logistic regression and boosted CART. Furthermore, the study examined the impacts of participating in these programs on students' college academic involvement and achievement using propensity score analysis.;Four main conclusions were deduced from the study's results. First, AVID, MESA, and Talent Search participants have similar levels of academic involvement than similar non-participants. However. EAOP participation was positively associated with students' level of academic involvement. Second, none of the four programs was directly associated with a significant change in participants' GPA. Third, the effect of participation on GPA was found to vary by students' academic involvement for EAOP and MESA. Fourth, program impacts did not vary by students' race, parental income, and class standing; however, the programs appear to be slightly more effective for participants with parents who did not attend college. From these findings, a number of recommendations are offered for practitioners aiming to improve the effectiveness of their programs. Additionally, a number of research questions not answered or raised by this study related to pre-college programs are suggested for future inquiry. |
