Many benefits of visits to a college campus during the eighth grade

This study asked whether visits to a college campus during the eighth grade can reduce these psychological barriers to college access. The rsesearchers hypothesized that a lack of experience with college poses a non-trivial barrier to college access for historically underrepresented students.  They studid whether college visits affect students’ knowledge about college, postsecondary intentions, college-going behaviors, academic engagement, and ninth grade course enrollment decisions.

885 students across 15 schools participated in the project during the academic year 2017-2018. Students in the control condition receive an information packet about college. Students in the treatment condition receive the same information and visit a flagship university three times during their 8th-grade academic year.

Students assigned to participate in these campus visits demonstrate higher levels of knowledge about college, higher levels of effort while completing the survey, a higher likelihood of having conversations with school personnel about college, and a decreased desire to attend technical school. Additionally, treated students are more likely to enroll in advanced math and science/social science courses in 9th grade.