briefcase
j-pal policy briefcase [october 2013 ]
informing future choices
In Chile, showing eighth grade students a video about financial aid for higher education resulted in increased
school attendance and increased enrollment in college-preparatory schools, but not in higher grades.
Featuring an evaluation by Taryn Dinkelman and Claudia Martínez A.
H
igher education is widely regarded as a tool of social mobility that can help
young people gain access to better-paying jobs. Though estimates vary, a large
number of studies have found that investments in higher education yield
substantial economic payoffs. As in many other countries, however, students
from low-income households in Chile often have difficulty accessing higher education
because they may not be aware of scholarship or loan programs, or they may not have high
enough grades or test scores to qualify for them.
photo by oscar pocasangre
Achieving the grades and scores necessary to qualify for these programs requires sustained
effort from students throughout high school. One potentially inexpensive way to motivate
students to increase their effort in school could be to provide information about how to
qualify for financial aid. If students had information about financial aid prior to entering
high school, they could invest more in their high school education in order to meet the
requirements for financial aid in the future.
Taryn Dinkelman (Dartmouth College) and J-PAL affiliate Claudia Martínez A. (Universidad de Chile) designed a randomized
evaluation to test the effects of providing low-income students in urban Chile with information about financial aid for higher
education.
• Information about financial aid increased enrollment in college-preparatory high schools.
Among students who had to select a new school after the eighth grade, those who had the opportunity to
watch the video either in school or at home were about six percentage points more likely to enroll in a collegepreparatory high school than those who did not watch the video.
• Exposure to a video on how to qualify for financial aid decreased absenteeism but did not result
in higher test scores. Students shown the video or given a copy to watch at home were 8.8 percentage
points less likely to be absent from school during the month following the intervention, but they did not
achieve higher grades by the end of the school year.
• Students used the information that was most relevant to them. The reductions in absenteeism and
gains in enrollment in college-preparatory high schools were concentrated among high- and medium-scoring
students—those more likely to be eligible for financial aid—in schools that ended in eighth grade. Students
with low grades switched their choice of post-secondary education from university studies to vocational
schooling.
• There was no additional effect from informing parents about financial aid options. While parents
who had the opportunity to watch the video knew more about financial aid options than those who did not
watch it, this did not seem to affect their children’s school effort or choice.
evaluation
I
n Chile, there are many financial aid opportunities for students pursuing post-secondary studies and almost half of
students enrolled in higher education receive some type of aid. Although these scholarships and loans are available to all,
low-income students face substantial obstacles in meeting the criteria for financial support. These students tend to score
lower on Chile’s standardized exam for university admissions, an important factor in qualifying for financial aid. Moreover,
economically disadvantaged students are less likely to have parents and role models who have a high school or post-secondary
education and who can advise them on how to access and finance higher education.
THE INTERVENTION: INFORMATIONAL AND MOTIVATIONAL VIDEO
Researchers created a fifteen-minute video featuring the stories of adults who
grew up in poor families in urban Chile and who successfully completed post1
secondary studies with financial aid. As the adults describe how they funded
their studies at universities or at vocational schools, the video provides detailed
information about how different financial aid options work, the academic
requirements for each option, and the timelines to apply.
To determine the effect of exposure to the video and of informing parents
about financial aid, the researchers randomly assigned 226 schools to one of
three groups:
Student group: students were shown the video in the classroom.
Family group: students were given a DVD copy of the video and were
encouraged to watch it at home with their parents.
Comparison group: no information given.
photo by oscar pocasangre
The evaluation focused on eighth-grade students in the poorest 40 percent of schools in the Metropolitan Region of Chile, which
includes the capital city of Santiago. The intervention targeted eighth graders because most students in Chile have to choose
between attending a college-preparatory school or a vocational high school at that point. In this study, 75 percent of students
attended schools that ended in eighth grade, while the rest could either continue studying at the same school or switch to
another one. In principle, the information about the admissions process and financial aid options could enable students to make
informed decisions about what high school to attend and could also motivate them to invest in their schooling throughout their
high school career. The researchers used administrative data as well as surveys measuring knowledge of financial aid options
and students’ academic effort and preferences.
1
The video is available here: http://goo.gl/bTF2m
2 ww w. po vertya ctio n l a b.o rg
abdul latif jameel poverty action lab
results
The impact of the video varied depending on the
initial grades of the students. Although students at
photo by oscar pocasangre
The video affected some students’ choices of where
to study the following year. Students in schools that
ended in eighth grade and who were given the opportunity
to watch the video were about six percentage points more
likely to choose a college-preparatory school rather than a
vocational school.
Exposure to information about financial aid
opportunities reduced student absenteeism during
the month following the intervention. Students who
were shown the video at school were eight percentage
points less likely to be absent from school during the month
following the intervention, and students given a copy of the
video to watch at home were 9.7 percentage points less
likely to be absent during that month (see Figure 1). This
reduction in absenteeism did not result in improved test
scores by the end of the school year, suggesting either that
the fall in absenteeism was short-lived, that there was not
enough time for student’s increased school effort to result
in higher grades, or that improving grades requires other
changes, such as improvements in teaching.
figure 1: effect of video on student absenteeism
Percentage of students absent at least once in month after intervention
64.4%
STUDENTS NOT
SHOWN THE VIDEO
55.7%*
all achievement levels responded to the information in the
video, the responses varied by their initial grades. Students
with high and medium grades at baseline had the largest
reductions in absenteeism. In particular, medium-scoring
students were 11.3 percentage points less likely to be absent
and 8.2 percentage points more likely to enroll in a collegepreparatory school (see Figure 2). Low-scoring students
were 8.7 percentage points more likely to report that they
wanted to study at a vocational training school, while highscoring students were 7.7 percentage points more likely to
report that they wanted to study at a university.
figure 2: medium-scoring students were more
likely to enroll in college-preparatory
school
Probability of enrolling in a college-preparatory school
67.7%
64.6%
64.1%
60.4%
66.3% *
LOW-SCORING
STUDENTS
Students not
exposed to the video
Students exposed
to the video
HIGH-SCORING
STUDENTS
57.9%
MEDIUM-SCORING
STUDENTS
* statistically significant result
There was no evidence that informing parents
about financial aid magnified the impact of the
intervention. Parents in the Family group scored higher
on a financial aid knowledge test than parents of students
who watched the video in the classroom, but there were no
significant differences in the outcomes of students in the
two treatment groups. While this may imply that in this age
group the students may be making their own educational
decisions, more research is needed to understand the
educational decision-making dynamics in the household.
STUDENTS SHOWN
THE VIDEO
* statistically significant result
www.povertyactionlab.org
3
policy lessons
A lack of information can keep people from making the best education
decisions. Randomized evaluations have shown that providing information can have
significant effects on the education decisions parents or students make. In Madagascar
and the Dominican Republic, providing information about the relationship between years
of education and wages was a cost-effective method of increasing time students spent in
school (Nguyen 2008; Jensen 2010). The present study contributes to the evidence about
how increased information can lead to better educational decisions at a low cost.
When information about financial aid options is provided at the right time,
it can help students make education decisions better suited to their level
of academic preparation. High- and medium-scoring students—those most likely
photo by michael eddy
to qualify for financial aid and be admitted to universities—invested more in their
schooling by showing up to school more compared to low-scoring students. These students were more likely to enroll in collegepreparatory schools if they attended schools that ended in eighth grade and were more likely to report that they wanted to pursue
university studies financed with scholarships.
But information alone was not enough to improve learning. Although absenteeism decreased among students exposed
to the video, students’ grades did not improve by the end of the year, suggesting that either data on grades was collected too soon
or that improving learning requires additional interventions.
For some education decisions, students may act on their own on new information regardless of whether
their parents have the same information. Students who were encouraged to watch the video at home with their parents
were not more likely to change their behavior in school than students whose parents were not exposed to the video at all.
Informing parents about financial aid options may not prompt students to increase effort in their high school studies. However,
more research is needed to explore how educational decisions are made in the household in order to know who should be the
focus of similar interventions.
Featured Evaluation: Dinkelman, Taryn and Claudia Martínez A. 2013. “Investing in Schooling in Chile: The Role of Information about Financial Aid for Higher
Education.” Review of Economics and Statistics. Forthcoming.
For Further Reading: Jensen, Robert. 2010. “The Perceived Returns to Education and the Demand for Schooling.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 125(2):515-548.
Nguyen, Trang. 2008. “Information, Role Models, and Perceived Returns to Education: Experimental Evidence from Madagascar.” Mimeo, MIT Department of
Economics.
Briefcase Author: Oscar Pocasangre
Editor: Shawn Powers
Design: Blu Nordgren
Suggested Citation: J-PAL Policy Briefcase. 2013. “Informing Future Choices.” Cambridge, MA: Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab.
ABOUT J-PAL The Abdul Latif
Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a
network of affiliated professors around
the world who are united by their use
of randomized evaluations to answer
questions critical to poverty alleviation.
J-PAL’s mission is to reduce poverty
by ensuring that policy is based on
scientific evidence.
ww w. po ve r t ya ctio n l a b.o rg
J-PAL NORTH
AMERICA
Massachusetts
Institute of
Technology
J-PAL GLOBAL
Massachusetts
Institute of
Technology
J-PAL LATIN AMERICA
& THE CARIBBEAN
Pontificia Universidad
Católica de Chile
J-PAL EUROPE
Paris School of Economics
J-PAL SOUTH ASIA
IFMR, India
J-PAL SOUTHEAST ASIA
University of Indonesia
J-PAL AFRICA
University of Cape Town