How U. of Michigan Appealed to Low-Income Students With a Colorful Invitation — and a Promise of Aid

What if getting low-income students to apply to a highly selective college was as simple as telling them the doors were open?

A new working paper suggests that, along with the promise of financial aid, might be the case. The paper describes an experiment to reach out to potential applicants to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. The researchers found that after telling high-achieving, low-income students they should apply to the institution, many of them did.

Of the targeted potential applicants, nearly 70 percent applied, a rate that was more than double that of the control group’s 26 percent. Moreover, about 27 percent of the targeted students enrolled at the university, compared with just 12 percent of students in the control group.

“Our results show a low-cost intervention can profoundly alter student application to and enrollment at highly selective colleges,” reads the paper, “Closing the Gap: The Effect of a Targeted, Tuition-Free Promise on College Choices of High-Achieving, Low-Income Students.” It was published as part of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s working-paper series and was written by Susan Dynarski, an economist at the University of Michigan; C.J. Libassi of College Board; Katherine Michelmore, an assistant professor of public administration and international affairs at Syracuse University; and Stephanie Owen, a doctoral student at Michigan in public policy and economics.

Their findings suggest what may be a particularly effective strategy for highly selective institutions to increase the number of low-income students they enroll. Such a strategy could counteract the phenomenon known as “undermatching,” in which students attend less-selective colleges than their grades and test scores suggest they could.

But as the paper’s authors point out, getting those students to even apply to highly selective institutions is a challenge. Such students typically don’t believe they have the academic record or financial means to attend top colleges, even though they are qualified and, when they enroll, tend to perform well there. So, the authors argue, the students end up at institutions with fewer resources, and often experience poorer outcomes than they would otherwise.

A ‘Powerful Message’

In 2015 the University of Michigan started the High Achieving Involved Leader scholarship, or HAIL. Its goal was to send “a powerful message that this world-class university is open to Michigan’s talented students, regardless of their income,” Dynarksi said at the time.

Key to the study was a scholarship letter that was sent to 1,932 students over two cohorts and was intended to amplify the HAIL effort. A similar letter was sent to the students’ parents or principal a few weeks later, to reinforce the message.

“Since your child is an excellent student, we want to offer a potentially transformative college opportunity,” each letter began. “If [first name] applies and is admitted to the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, your child will be awarded the HAIL scholarship covering the entire cost of U-M tuition and fees for four years.”

Each letter, which cost less than $10 to produce and mail, was designed to demand attention. It was enclosed in an envelope emblazoned with the university’s blue-and-yellow colors. The words “Free tuition” conspicuously appeared several times in the letter. In other, similar studies, drabber versions of an envelope appeared to be “from an unrecognized source” and so “were largely ignored or disregarded as fraudulent,” the authors write. The letter in the experiment was meant to feel like a golden ticket.

The letter also promised students the scholarship whether or not they filled out the Fafsa, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The Fafsa has long been the key for many students to receive federal financial aid, but its byzantine format can be difficult to navigate, especially for first-generation students who are more often from low-income backgrounds.

The authors write that their model is especially well suited to Michigan and could be less effective in states, like Massachusetts, where private institutions provide more financial support to high-achieving students. Moreover, the authors acknowledge, the University of Michigan “is the most-selective, highest-quality, and least-expensive option for low-income students” in the state, and that could partly explain the program’s success. So while the preliminary results are encouraging, the paper’s authors urge caution.

“When well-targeted, a HAIL-like intervention could substantially improve postsecondary outcomes for low-income students,” the paper says. “When poorly planned, or wielded by bad actors, it could do serious harm.”

Chris Quintana is a staff reporter. Follow him on Twitter @cquintanadc or email him at chris.quintana@chronicle.com.