Long-Term Impacts of KIPP Middle Schools on College Enrollment and Early College Persistence

This randomized control trial by Thomas Coen, Ira Nichols-Barrer, and Philip Gleason analyzes the effect of attending a Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) charter school on college attendance and persistence. The authors compare students who win a lottery to attend a KIPP middle school with those who do not. They find that students who attend a KIPP middle school are more likely to attend a four-year college but no more likely to persist during the first two years of college. They also found few effects of KIPP attendance on type of college attended, although KIPP students are more likely to attend a college with a higher proportion of Pell Grant students.