Impact of a a statewide college-preparatory policy

Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) is a statewide college-preparatory policy that applies to the high school graduating class of 2011 and later. Using detailed Michigan high school transcript data, this article examines the effect of the MMC on various students’ course-taking and achievement outcomes.

The analyses suggest that

• (a) post-MMC cohorts took and passed approximately 0.2 additional years’ of math courses, and students at low socioeconomic status (SES) schools drove nearly all of these effects; 
• (b) post-policy students also completed higher-level courses, with the largest increase among the least prepared students; 
•  (c) no strong evidence on students’ ACT math scores; and 
• (d) an increase in college enrollment rates for post-MMC cohorts, and the increase is mostly driven by well-prepared students.