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The Impact of a Promise: A Loan Replacement Grant, Low-Income Students, and College Graduation
- The Review of Higher Education
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 42, Number 3, Spring 2019
- pp. 1073-1100
- 10.1353/rhe.2019.0030
- Article
- Additional Information
Abstract:
This study examines the impact of Illinois Promise, a loan replacement grant for low-income students, on college graduation within five years. A quasi-experimental design using propensity score matching is employed for first-time, full-time students enrolled as freshman from fall, 2007 through fall, 2009. Eligibility criteria are used to construct the comparison group of one-to-one matches for a total of 414 students. Results show the odds ratio of graduating within five years is 2.4 times more likely for I-Promise students in relation to the low-income comparison group. Policy and practice implications are discussed.