MORE GUIDANCE, BETTER RESULTS?

Program Control Difference StandardOutcome (%) Group Group (Impact) ErrorFourth postprogram semesterRegistered at any institution a 30.5 29.0 1.5 2.0At student’s Opening Doors college 24.4 23.2 1.3 1.8At any 2-year institution b 2.3 2.1 0.3 0.6At any 4-year institution 4.0 4.2 -0.2 0.9Cumulative outcomes cTable 4.4 (continued)Registered at any institution a 95.2 93.7 1.4 1.0At student’s Opening Doors college 93.9 93.0 1.0 1.1At any 2-year institution b 6.5 5.3 1.2 1.0At any 4-year institution 7.2 8.7 -1.6 1.2Earned a degree or certificate from any institution d 1.8 2.8 -1.0 0.6From student’s Opening Doors college 1.6 2.5 -1.0 0.6From any 2-year institution b 0.0 0.2 -0.2 0.1From any 4-year institution 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.2Sample size (total = 2,139) 1,073 1,066SOURCES: MDRC calculations using data from the StudentTracker service of the National StudentClearinghouse and transcript data from Lorain County Community College and Owens Community College.NOTES: The Clearinghouse collects data from about 3,300 colleges that enroll 92 percent of U.S. collegestudents. Students have the right to opt out of having their information sent. Records were found in theClearinghouse file for 95 percent of the students randomly assigned at Lorain County Community Collegeand Owens Community College.A two-tailed t-test was applied to differences between the groups. Statistical significance levels areindicated as: *** = 1 percent; ** = 5 percent; * = 10 percent.Missing values are not included in individual variable distributions.Distributions may not add to 100 percent because of rounding.aDistributions may not add to the percent registered at any institution because of co-enrollment.bThis category excludes Lorain County Community College and Owens Community College.cSummer and winter semesters are not shown as relative semesters, but they are included in cumulativemeasures.dOutcomes include data from the first program semester through the third postprogram semester.enrollments at other institutions does not change the program’s impacts during any semester.That is, the program’s impacts on registration at any school mimic the program’s impacts onregistration at the Opening Doors institutions alone: there are clear positive impacts during thesecond program semester and small impacts during the first postprogram semester, but theimpacts do not persist during later semesters. These results suggest that students transferring toother institutions did not change the general findings regarding the program’s impacts onstudent persistence.55