A Quasi-Experimental Examination of Supplemental Instruction and College Graduation

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Abstract

Supplemental Instruction (SI) seeks to promote academic success within courses that have high rates of failure and withdrawal. The present study examined the potential impact of SI on bachelor’s degree completion, STEM degree attainment, and undergraduate minor conferral using doubly-robust propensity score analyses to account for student self-selection into SI. Within two samples of several thousand students enrolled in various courses, SI participation was positively related to bachelor’s degree completion, whereas the results for STEM degrees and minors varied across samples. Subgroup analyses generally yielded larger effect sizes for bachelor’s degree attainment among students in their first semester or year of college, first-generation students, underrepresented racial minority students, and male students.

Authors

• Nicholas A. Bowman, University of Iowa

• N Tennessen, University of Iowa