University Persistence Results From a National Pre-College Preparation Program

• In Event: Exploring First-Year Experiences

Abstract

In Chile, pre-college preparation programs started around 2007. In 2014, the first national-wide program, PACE, was implemented by Chile’s Ministry of Education and executed by universities across the country. The program seeks to prepare high school students for higher education by providing academic and psychoeducational support to students during the last two years of high school and the first year of higher education. Students within the top 15% of the High School Ranking score are offered a slot. The study aims to investigate the impact that PACE has on university persistence. We employ a regression discontinuity design, and preliminary results suggest that program participants do not exhibit the same persistence rates as similarly characterized non-PACE students.

Authors

• Pamela Guzmán, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
  Presenting Author

• Maria Veronica Santelices, Catholic University of Chile
  Non-Presenting Author