Paving Paths to Possible: An Impact Evaluation of the Kansas City Scholars Program

• In Event: College Access and System-Level Practices

Abstract

While there is a clear link between postsecondary education and economic mobility, there is growing need to increase college access and success, especially among low-income and traditionally underserved populations. The Kansas City Scholars Program (KC Scholars) was launched in 2016 to help low- and modest-income students in the six-county Kansas City area enroll in and complete higher education. The KC Scholars Program provided data for 2,441 students across two KC Scholars scholarship awardee cohorts which the evaluation team merged with postsecondary outcome data from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). The evaluation team used a regression discontinuity design to estimate impacts on five outcomes: postsecondary enrollment, enrollment in a four-year institution, enrollment in a two-year institution, two-year persistence, and three-year persistence.

Authors

• Mary Rauner, WestEd

• Cameron Sublett, WestEd

• Thomas Torre Gibney, WestEd