A Review of College Promise Programs: Evidence from the Midwest
As the price of a public college education has risen at well above the rate of inflation for decades, college affordability has become a key concern in public policy discussions.(1) At the same time, recent high school graduates from lower-income and middle-income families are nearly 20 percentage points less likely to enroll in college the following year than students from high-income families. (2)
A number of states and communities have responded to these concerns by starting college promise programs, which typically promise qualified middle or high school students that they will cover part or all of tuition prices when a student enters college. A key goal of these programs is to encourage financially-needy students to think that college is possible and prepare academically for postsecondary education while they are in high school.
