Field Experiments in Postsecondary Education: Treatments, Outcomes, and Methods of Randomization

• In Event: Student Success: Programs, Policies, and Outcomes

Abstract

This paper reviews the recent empirical literature using field experiments to study student success outcomes in postsecondary education. The goal is to understand what programs and policies have been successfully randomized, what student outcomes have been studied, and how randomization was accomplished. We reviewed a total of 61 field experiments in higher education that successfully randomized treatments. Each study was then classified into one of five treatment categories: informational, peer effects, instructional, compensation, and student support. Overall, field experiments in postsecondary education are more common than many researchers realize and the past decade has seen a large increase in postsecondary field experiments.

Authors

• Ashley Brooke Clayton, Louisiana State University

• Stephen R. Porter, North Carolina State University

• Darren Allen Smith, Valencia College