Money, mentoring and making friends : the impact of a multidimensional access program on student performance

Abstract

This study evaluates a comprehensive university access program that provides financial, academic and social support to low socioeconomic students using a natural experiment which exploits the time variation in the expansion of the program across high schools. Overall, we find positive treatment effects on first year exam performance, dropout rates, and final graduation outcomes. We find similar results for access students entering through the standard admissions system and those entering with grade concessions. This suggests that access programs can be effective at improving academic outcomes for socio-economically disadvantaged students.