Greater Twin Cities United Way College Possible College Program: Year 4 (Final) Evaluation Report

College Possible is a college-readiness, access, and success organization that supports and coaches low-income college students through:

• ACT and SAT test preparation
• College application assistance
• Financial aid consulting
• Guidance during the transition from high school to college
• Ongoing support towards degree completion

The College Possible program model is based on a premise that low-income students face barriers to college access and success that are mostly identifiable and predictable. These barriers typically fall into three main areas: academic, financial, and social/cultural. The program proposes that it can provide students with the resources they need to successfully navigate the path to college completion through the services described above.

Study Goals:

The evaluation of College Possible included both implementation and impact evaluation components. The impact study was designed to evaluate whether College Possible participants have greater persistence and graduation rates than a similar cohort of non-participants. The implementation study was designed to measure the program’s fidelity of implementation, identify areas where the program could be strengthened, and measure the intensity and content of the coaching that students in the 2013 cohort received during each year of the study.

Research Questions:

The research questions were:

• Impact Questions:
  • What is the difference in rates of college persistence between program participants and nonparticipants?
  • What is the difference in rates of college graduation between program participants and nonparticipants?
  • What differences exist in rates of college persistence among specific ethnic groups?
  • What differences exist in college graduation rates among specific ethnic groups?
• Implementation Questions:
  • How many contacts occur between students and coaches, what is the duration of that contact, and what number and percentage of the contacts are two-way?
  • What number and percentage of contacts are initiated by students, what is the duration of those contacts, and what number and percentage of the contacts are two-way?
  • Which curriculum topics are addressed during the contact between coaches and students?
  • To what extent do the interactions between coaches and students include the characteristics of quality coaching practices identified by College Possible for the college program?
  • How well does the training and ongoing supervision of the coaches support the coaches to provide quality services?
  • To what extent does the intensity and content of the coaching impact college persistence and graduation?
  • To what extent does the percent and number of coach-student contacts that are initiated by the student, rather than the coach, impact college persistence and graduation?
  • To what extent does the program’s impact on persistence and graduation differ between these two groups of students:
    1. students who only had in-person communication with their coach and students who had a mix of in-person and tech-based communication with their coach,
    2. students who only had tech-based communication with their coach?

Findings:

The evaluation found the following:

• The College Possible students in the 2013 cohort had greater graduation rates than students in the comparison group. There was a positive program effect on graduation rates, implying that a student in College Possible is, on average, 1.74 times more likely to graduate after four years than a student in the comparison group.
• College Possible students and students in the comparison group had no difference in grades or credits earned. These null findings were consistent for the three combined College Possible cohorts, and when the 2013 cohort was analyzed separately.
• The implementation study found that the program model encourages coaches to adapt the program to students’ individual needs, therefore fidelity of program implementation was not assessed.

For more information, download the full report and report brief.