All Penn AHEAD Papers
Title
Will college promise programs improve or reduce equity? Understanding the contextual conditions that influence implementation
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
3-8-2021
DOI
10.14507/epaa.29.5436
Theme
Access and Completion in Higher Education
Keywords
college promise programs; free tuition; case study; implementation; community college; attainment; equity
Copyright/Permission Statement
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Funder Acknowledgment
Although “free tuition” programs are politically popular, some worry that these programs will exacerbate inequity. Scholars note that program outcomes depend on implementation, but few have probed the contextual conditions that contribute to differences in implementation or the consequences of implementation for equity. To address this knowledge gap, we draw on conceptual models of implementation fidelity and case studies of last-dollar, free tuition programs at four community colleges. The consequences of an implemented Will College Promise Programs Improve or Reduce Equity? 2 program for equity depend on program content and coverage and are moderated by programmatic and organizational conditions. For the studied programs, implemented content includes the financial award and non-financial academic supports. Coverage is determined by eligibility requirements. Program content and coverage are moderated by programmatic characteristics, including program goals and placement in the organizational structure, program staffing, and recruitment strategies. Organizational conditions, including sources and availability of funding, availability of synergistic programs, capacity for data collection and evaluation, and perceptions of the community college also moderate implementation. The results inform understanding of how to implement programs at community colleges that increase equity in particular contexts.
Recommended Citation
Perna, L. W., Wright-Kim, J., & Leigh, E. W. (2021). Will college promise programs improve or reduce equity? Understanding the contextual conditions that influence program implementation. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 29(26). https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.29.5436 This article is part of the special issue, Policy Implementation as an Instrument to Achieve Educational Equity in the Community College Context, guest edited by Eric R. Felix, H. Kenny Nienhusser, Ángel Gonzalez, Luz Burgos-López.
Date Posted: 08 March 2021