Research Notes: Making Sense of College Enrollment Programs

A significant increase in the number of students pursuing higher education in recent years suggests that the many programs instituted to encourage college enrollment are working. But at the same time, the continued existence of various racial/ethnic and socioeconomic gaps points to deficiencies in those programs.

To map out the landscape of programs intended to improve college access, Laura Perna and colleagues have developed a typology designed to aid future studies. They compiled data on funding sources, levels of implementation, and target populations of selected federal and state programs. What they found was that the great majority involve support given directly to the student, though individual states seem to vary in their approaches. Maryland and Pennsylvania, for example, tend to focus on aiding low-income students at the point of enrollment, while Florida and Georgia show an emphasis on addressing students who demonstrate high academic achievement.

Another important finding was the lack of clarity and distinctiveness in the programs. A bird's-eye view reveals a multitude of programs that often overlap or do not achieve their stated goals. By developing a typology, Perna and her co-authors clear the way for researchers and policymakers to assess, modify, and create programs, in turn helping to provide students with greater opportunity for higher education.

"A Typology of Federal and State Programs Designed to Promote College Enrollment," by Laura Perna, Heather Rowan-Kenyon, Angela Bell, Scott Thomas, and Chunyan Li, appears in The Journal of Higher Education 79:3.