%0 Report
        %A Kotlikoff, Phoebe
%A Rahman, Ahmed S.
%A Smith, Katherine
        %T Minding the Gap: Academic Outcomes from Pre-college Programs
        %D 2021
        %8 2021 Jan
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 14075
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp14075
        %X This paper analyzes the effects of assignment to a one-year college preparatory program on academic performance in college. To measure the value added from pre-college programs, we use a large dataset of United States Naval Academy students from the 1988 to 2018 graduating classes, of which a little over 22% received post-high school remediation. Given the Academy's unique admissions criteria that members of each incoming class originate from an even distribution of congressional districts, we instrument for pre-college treatment using the number and quality of other applicants originating from the same district. 
After incorporating these instruments as well as a wide range of outcome measures and background characteristics, we find that preparatory programs have positive but limited effects for human capital development for undergraduate students. Specifically, these pre-college programs promote significant but short-lived improvements in academic grades. They also can encourage students to choose STEM-oriented majors, and promote retention by lowering voluntary exits.
        %K liberal arts college
%K higher education
%K remedial education
%K human capital