If You Fund Them, Will They Come? Findings From a Graduate Student Fellowship Program

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Financing College Enrollment: Programs, Strategies, and Policies

Abstract

This study examines the effects of introducing a Ph.D. fellowship program for education students at a large public university on the volume of applications and the attributes of applying and matriculating students. Using student-level administrative records, we use difference-in-differences and event study approaches to compare fellowship-eligible Ph.D. programs to fellowship-ineligible Ph.D. programs at the institution. Results indicate that the fellowship led to substantial increases in application volume and racial/ethnic diversity. In particular, we find significant increases in the share of black applicants and enrollees (5 percent and 9 percent, respectively). Overall, our analyses suggest that Ph.D. stipends and tuition waivers can increase the size and diversity of both applicant pools and enrollees.

Authors

• Christopher Bennett, U.S. Department of Education

• Milagros Castillo-Montoya, University of Connecticut

• Shaun Michael Dougherty, Vanderbilt University

• Walter G Ecton, The University of Pennsylvania

• H. Kenny Nienhusser, University of Connecticut