Using a panel dataset from 2000 to 2014, this paper employs a difference-in-difference design to ... more Using a panel dataset from 2000 to 2014, this paper employs a difference-in-difference design to consider the impact of the introduction of a “promise program” on postsecondary institutions’ internal spending levels and patterns. We find that promise programs influence postsecondary institutional behavior in every area we tested: student-related and non-student-related expenditure levels and shares. We find decreases in student-related expenditure areas at 2-year institutions, but no significant change at 4-years. Non-student-related expenditures are mixed at 2-years with levels of expenditures increasing for auxiliary but decreasing in public service areas. By contrast public service expenditures increase at 4-years. Shares of expenses also shift with declining spending on student services but increased institutional support at 2-years. However, there are no changes to the share of expenses at 4-years. Overall, we find that 2- and 4-year institutions react differently to the introd...
This study explores the impact of state-level guaranteed tuition laws on state general appropriat... more This study explores the impact of state-level guaranteed tuition laws on state general appropriations for higher education. Using the “Truth-in-Tuition” law that was implemented in Illinois in 2004 as the treatment condition, this study analyzes data from 2000–2012. To test the direction and size of the effect on state general appropriations, this work uses a quasi-experimental, differencein-difference methodology with a national panel dataset of public four-year institutions. Institutions in Illinois experienced significant decreases in state appropriations following the introduction of the guaranteed tuition law compared to the secular trend. In the baseline model presented in this paper, the magnitude of the cut to higher education institutions is shown to be $29.6 million, or approximately 20%, compared to the 2004 mean, on average, as compared to institutions that were not subject to guaranteed tuition laws. Both the direction and the magnitude of the finding are robust to alte...
FIRE: Forum for International Research in Education, 2018
The global landscape for higher education continues to experience widespread reforms and globaliz... more The global landscape for higher education continues to experience widespread reforms and globalization is believed to underlie much of the change. Responses to the influences of globalization at the institutional, national, and international arenas have been multiple and varied. In Europe, the Bologna Process and its related initiatives represent a restructuring of higher education systems toward more convergence to increase global competitiveness. The impacts of these reforms reverberated throughout the global higher education ecosystem, the culmination of which has been, among other things, a growing focus on student learning outcomes. The contributions in this special issue engage a wide variety of topics related to the influences of globalization and internationalization on higher education in Africa. The common theme knitting the contributions together is that the drivers of reforms in African higher education are not fundamentally different from elsewhere.
EdWorkingPapers, Annenberg Institute at Brown University, 2023
Odle, Taylor, and Jennifer Delaney. (2023). Experimental Evidence on "Direct Admissions" from Fou... more Odle, Taylor, and Jennifer Delaney. (2023). Experimental Evidence on "Direct Admissions" from Four States: Impacts on College Application and Enrollment. (EdWorkingPaper: 23-834). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/6xtn-2j84
Complexity and uncertainty in the college application process contribute to longstanding racial and socioeconomic disparities in enrollment. We leverage a large-scale experiment that combines an early guarantee of college admission with a proactive nudge, fee waiver, and structural application simplification to test the impacts of emerging “direct admissions” policies on students’ college-going behaviors. Students in the intervention were 2.7 percentage points (or 12%) more likely to submit a college application, with larger impacts for racially minoritized, first-generation, and low-income students. Students were most responsive to automatic offers from larger, higher quality institutions on the application margin, but were not more likely to subsequently enroll. In the face of growing adoption, we show this low-cost, low-touch intervention can move the needle on important college-going behaviors but is insufficient alone to increase enrollment given other barriers to access, including the ability to pay for college.
Using a panel dataset from 2000 to 2014, this paper employs a difference-in-difference design to ... more Using a panel dataset from 2000 to 2014, this paper employs a difference-in-difference design to consider the impact of the introduction of a “promise program” on postsecondary institutions’ internal spending levels and patterns. We find that promise programs influence postsecondary institutional behavior in every area we tested: student-related and non-student-related expenditure levels and shares. We find decreases in student-related expenditure areas at 2-year institutions, but no significant change at 4-years. Non-student-related expenditures are mixed at 2-years with levels of expenditures increasing for auxiliary but decreasing in public service areas. By contrast public service expenditures increase at 4-years. Shares of expenses also shift with declining spending on student services but increased institutional support at 2-years. However, there are no changes to the share of expenses at 4-years. Overall, we find that 2- and 4-year institutions react differently to the introduction of a promise program, with the greatest impact at 2-years.
JEL Classifications: I22, I23
Delaney, J. A., & Hemenway, B. (2023). A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of Shifts in Postsecondary Institution Spending Patterns in Response to “Promise” Financial Aid Programs. Educational Policy, 37(4), 1102–1150. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048211049431
ISAs are an emerging and controversial mechanism for financing college in which individuals commi... more ISAs are an emerging and controversial mechanism for financing college in which individuals commit to pay a specified percentage of their future income in exchange for capital to pay for college. Utilizing nationally representative public opinion data, this study is among the first to characterize public views of ISAs.
Rethinking College Admissions: Research-Based Practice and Policy, 2022
I have a new book chapter coming out in an edited volume Rethinking College Admissions: Research-... more I have a new book chapter coming out in an edited volume Rethinking College Admissions: Research-Based Practice and Policy. This book is available for pre-order!
Rethinking College Admissions probes the many facets of higher education admissions and translates research-backed insights into actionable strategies for innovative, equitable admissions practices.
In 2015, Idaho adopted the nation’s first direct admissions system and proactively admitted all h... more In 2015, Idaho adopted the nation’s first direct admissions system and proactively admitted all high school graduates to a set of public institutions. This reimagination of the admissions process may reduce barriers to students’ enrollment and improve access across geographic and socioeconomic contexts by removing many human capital, informational, and financial barriers in the college search and application process. Despite a lack of evidence on the efficacy of direct admissions systems, the policy has already been proposed or implemented in four other states. Using synthetic control methods, we estimate the first causal impacts of direct admissions on institutional enrollment outcomes. We find early evidence that direct admissions increased first-time undergraduate enrollments by 4–8% (50–100 students per campus on average) and in-state levels by approximately 8–15% (80–140 students) but had minimal-to-no impacts on the enrollment of Pell-eligible students. These enrollment gains were concentrated among 2-year, open-access institutions. We discuss these findings in relation to state contexts and policy design given the emergence of literature highlighting the varied efficacy of similar college access policies.
University athletics because of its reporting structure, regulation by the NCAA, and relationship... more University athletics because of its reporting structure, regulation by the NCAA, and relationship to the academic enterprise of institutions, provides a unique look into postsecondary institutional behavior. Using a difference-in-difference design, this study tests the introduction of new television networks dedicated to college sports on institutional subsidy levels for athletics. Overall, our findings show that institutions are responsive to the introduction of new college-sports-dedicated television networks. When considering institutions in the Power Five athletic conferences, we find an average decline in subsidy levels of approximately $1.2 million. When considering different types of subsidies, we find significant declines in direct subsidies and student fees, but no significant change for indirect subsidies.
Using a panel dataset from 2000-2014, this paper employs a difference-in-difference design to con... more Using a panel dataset from 2000-2014, this paper employs a difference-in-difference design to consider the impact of the introduction of a “promise program” on postsecondary institutions’ internal spending levels and patterns. We find that promise programs influence postsecondary institutional behavior in every area we tested: student-related and non-student-related expenditure levels and shares. We find decreases in student-related expenditure areas at 2-year institutions, but no significant change at 4-years. Non-student-related expenditures are mixed at 2-years with levels of expenditures increasing for auxiliary but decreasing in public service areas. By contrast public service expenditures increase at 4-years. Shares of expenses also shift with declining spending on student services but increased institutional support at 2-years. However, there are no changes to the share of expenses at 4-years. Overall, we find that 2- and 4-year institutions react differently to the introduct...
This report provides an overview of trends in enrollment at institutions of higher education mapp... more This report provides an overview of trends in enrollment at institutions of higher education mapped onto different points in the state's economic history. The report looks at national trends and state of Illinois enrollment trends during periods of economic recession.<br>
Institute of Government and Public Affairs Report, 2020
This report provides an overview of trends in enrollment at institutions of higher education mapp... more This report provides an overview of trends in enrollment at institutions of higher education mapped onto different points in the state’s economic history. The report looks at national trends and state of Illinois enrollment trends during periods of economic recession.
Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education
Background Numerous studies have addressed the determinants of higher education appropriations. E... more Background Numerous studies have addressed the determinants of higher education appropriations. Extending prior studies that only consider the relationship between higher education and one other state budget category, Delaney and Doyle develop and test an empirical model of the relationship between higher education and all other budget categories. Delaney and Doyle propose that higher education takes the form of a balance wheel in state budgets. They find that higher education is cut more than other budget categories in bad budget years and given larger increases in good budget years. Although previous work advances understanding of how states budget for higher education, it is limited in the length of time considered. Purpose This study makes two important contributions to the literature. First, it documents changes in the amount of volatility in state funding for higher education. Second, it identifies patterns in the volatility, and does so over a longer time period than has been...
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
This article considers trends in state policies that determine college affordability, including t... more This article considers trends in state policies that determine college affordability, including trends in state general appropriations, institutional tuition and fees, and state student financial aid. Taken together, these trends demonstrate erosion in college affordability. This article also examines one recent federal policy intervention that has shaped state policy for higher education affordability, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). My analysis of ARRA shows that the “maintenance of effort” provision in the law was effective, as there was no drop in state general appropriations for higher education (including federal ARRA funds) following implementation. However, in a related analysis, I show that ARRA is negatively associated with state spending on student financial aid. Collectively, state policy trends and the ARRA analyses underscore the need for improved state policy in promoting college affordability, as an affordable college education is out of re...
Using a panel dataset from 2000 to 2014, this paper employs a difference-in-difference design to ... more Using a panel dataset from 2000 to 2014, this paper employs a difference-in-difference design to consider the impact of the introduction of a “promise program” on postsecondary institutions’ internal spending levels and patterns. We find that promise programs influence postsecondary institutional behavior in every area we tested: student-related and non-student-related expenditure levels and shares. We find decreases in student-related expenditure areas at 2-year institutions, but no significant change at 4-years. Non-student-related expenditures are mixed at 2-years with levels of expenditures increasing for auxiliary but decreasing in public service areas. By contrast public service expenditures increase at 4-years. Shares of expenses also shift with declining spending on student services but increased institutional support at 2-years. However, there are no changes to the share of expenses at 4-years. Overall, we find that 2- and 4-year institutions react differently to the introd...
This study explores the impact of state-level guaranteed tuition laws on state general appropriat... more This study explores the impact of state-level guaranteed tuition laws on state general appropriations for higher education. Using the “Truth-in-Tuition” law that was implemented in Illinois in 2004 as the treatment condition, this study analyzes data from 2000–2012. To test the direction and size of the effect on state general appropriations, this work uses a quasi-experimental, differencein-difference methodology with a national panel dataset of public four-year institutions. Institutions in Illinois experienced significant decreases in state appropriations following the introduction of the guaranteed tuition law compared to the secular trend. In the baseline model presented in this paper, the magnitude of the cut to higher education institutions is shown to be $29.6 million, or approximately 20%, compared to the 2004 mean, on average, as compared to institutions that were not subject to guaranteed tuition laws. Both the direction and the magnitude of the finding are robust to alte...
FIRE: Forum for International Research in Education, 2018
The global landscape for higher education continues to experience widespread reforms and globaliz... more The global landscape for higher education continues to experience widespread reforms and globalization is believed to underlie much of the change. Responses to the influences of globalization at the institutional, national, and international arenas have been multiple and varied. In Europe, the Bologna Process and its related initiatives represent a restructuring of higher education systems toward more convergence to increase global competitiveness. The impacts of these reforms reverberated throughout the global higher education ecosystem, the culmination of which has been, among other things, a growing focus on student learning outcomes. The contributions in this special issue engage a wide variety of topics related to the influences of globalization and internationalization on higher education in Africa. The common theme knitting the contributions together is that the drivers of reforms in African higher education are not fundamentally different from elsewhere.
EdWorkingPapers, Annenberg Institute at Brown University, 2023
Odle, Taylor, and Jennifer Delaney. (2023). Experimental Evidence on "Direct Admissions" from Fou... more Odle, Taylor, and Jennifer Delaney. (2023). Experimental Evidence on "Direct Admissions" from Four States: Impacts on College Application and Enrollment. (EdWorkingPaper: 23-834). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/6xtn-2j84
Complexity and uncertainty in the college application process contribute to longstanding racial and socioeconomic disparities in enrollment. We leverage a large-scale experiment that combines an early guarantee of college admission with a proactive nudge, fee waiver, and structural application simplification to test the impacts of emerging “direct admissions” policies on students’ college-going behaviors. Students in the intervention were 2.7 percentage points (or 12%) more likely to submit a college application, with larger impacts for racially minoritized, first-generation, and low-income students. Students were most responsive to automatic offers from larger, higher quality institutions on the application margin, but were not more likely to subsequently enroll. In the face of growing adoption, we show this low-cost, low-touch intervention can move the needle on important college-going behaviors but is insufficient alone to increase enrollment given other barriers to access, including the ability to pay for college.
Using a panel dataset from 2000 to 2014, this paper employs a difference-in-difference design to ... more Using a panel dataset from 2000 to 2014, this paper employs a difference-in-difference design to consider the impact of the introduction of a “promise program” on postsecondary institutions’ internal spending levels and patterns. We find that promise programs influence postsecondary institutional behavior in every area we tested: student-related and non-student-related expenditure levels and shares. We find decreases in student-related expenditure areas at 2-year institutions, but no significant change at 4-years. Non-student-related expenditures are mixed at 2-years with levels of expenditures increasing for auxiliary but decreasing in public service areas. By contrast public service expenditures increase at 4-years. Shares of expenses also shift with declining spending on student services but increased institutional support at 2-years. However, there are no changes to the share of expenses at 4-years. Overall, we find that 2- and 4-year institutions react differently to the introduction of a promise program, with the greatest impact at 2-years.
JEL Classifications: I22, I23
Delaney, J. A., & Hemenway, B. (2023). A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of Shifts in Postsecondary Institution Spending Patterns in Response to “Promise” Financial Aid Programs. Educational Policy, 37(4), 1102–1150. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048211049431
ISAs are an emerging and controversial mechanism for financing college in which individuals commi... more ISAs are an emerging and controversial mechanism for financing college in which individuals commit to pay a specified percentage of their future income in exchange for capital to pay for college. Utilizing nationally representative public opinion data, this study is among the first to characterize public views of ISAs.
Rethinking College Admissions: Research-Based Practice and Policy, 2022
I have a new book chapter coming out in an edited volume Rethinking College Admissions: Research-... more I have a new book chapter coming out in an edited volume Rethinking College Admissions: Research-Based Practice and Policy. This book is available for pre-order!
Rethinking College Admissions probes the many facets of higher education admissions and translates research-backed insights into actionable strategies for innovative, equitable admissions practices.
In 2015, Idaho adopted the nation’s first direct admissions system and proactively admitted all h... more In 2015, Idaho adopted the nation’s first direct admissions system and proactively admitted all high school graduates to a set of public institutions. This reimagination of the admissions process may reduce barriers to students’ enrollment and improve access across geographic and socioeconomic contexts by removing many human capital, informational, and financial barriers in the college search and application process. Despite a lack of evidence on the efficacy of direct admissions systems, the policy has already been proposed or implemented in four other states. Using synthetic control methods, we estimate the first causal impacts of direct admissions on institutional enrollment outcomes. We find early evidence that direct admissions increased first-time undergraduate enrollments by 4–8% (50–100 students per campus on average) and in-state levels by approximately 8–15% (80–140 students) but had minimal-to-no impacts on the enrollment of Pell-eligible students. These enrollment gains were concentrated among 2-year, open-access institutions. We discuss these findings in relation to state contexts and policy design given the emergence of literature highlighting the varied efficacy of similar college access policies.
University athletics because of its reporting structure, regulation by the NCAA, and relationship... more University athletics because of its reporting structure, regulation by the NCAA, and relationship to the academic enterprise of institutions, provides a unique look into postsecondary institutional behavior. Using a difference-in-difference design, this study tests the introduction of new television networks dedicated to college sports on institutional subsidy levels for athletics. Overall, our findings show that institutions are responsive to the introduction of new college-sports-dedicated television networks. When considering institutions in the Power Five athletic conferences, we find an average decline in subsidy levels of approximately $1.2 million. When considering different types of subsidies, we find significant declines in direct subsidies and student fees, but no significant change for indirect subsidies.
Using a panel dataset from 2000-2014, this paper employs a difference-in-difference design to con... more Using a panel dataset from 2000-2014, this paper employs a difference-in-difference design to consider the impact of the introduction of a “promise program” on postsecondary institutions’ internal spending levels and patterns. We find that promise programs influence postsecondary institutional behavior in every area we tested: student-related and non-student-related expenditure levels and shares. We find decreases in student-related expenditure areas at 2-year institutions, but no significant change at 4-years. Non-student-related expenditures are mixed at 2-years with levels of expenditures increasing for auxiliary but decreasing in public service areas. By contrast public service expenditures increase at 4-years. Shares of expenses also shift with declining spending on student services but increased institutional support at 2-years. However, there are no changes to the share of expenses at 4-years. Overall, we find that 2- and 4-year institutions react differently to the introduct...
This report provides an overview of trends in enrollment at institutions of higher education mapp... more This report provides an overview of trends in enrollment at institutions of higher education mapped onto different points in the state's economic history. The report looks at national trends and state of Illinois enrollment trends during periods of economic recession.<br>
Institute of Government and Public Affairs Report, 2020
This report provides an overview of trends in enrollment at institutions of higher education mapp... more This report provides an overview of trends in enrollment at institutions of higher education mapped onto different points in the state’s economic history. The report looks at national trends and state of Illinois enrollment trends during periods of economic recession.
Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education
Background Numerous studies have addressed the determinants of higher education appropriations. E... more Background Numerous studies have addressed the determinants of higher education appropriations. Extending prior studies that only consider the relationship between higher education and one other state budget category, Delaney and Doyle develop and test an empirical model of the relationship between higher education and all other budget categories. Delaney and Doyle propose that higher education takes the form of a balance wheel in state budgets. They find that higher education is cut more than other budget categories in bad budget years and given larger increases in good budget years. Although previous work advances understanding of how states budget for higher education, it is limited in the length of time considered. Purpose This study makes two important contributions to the literature. First, it documents changes in the amount of volatility in state funding for higher education. Second, it identifies patterns in the volatility, and does so over a longer time period than has been...
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
This article considers trends in state policies that determine college affordability, including t... more This article considers trends in state policies that determine college affordability, including trends in state general appropriations, institutional tuition and fees, and state student financial aid. Taken together, these trends demonstrate erosion in college affordability. This article also examines one recent federal policy intervention that has shaped state policy for higher education affordability, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). My analysis of ARRA shows that the “maintenance of effort” provision in the law was effective, as there was no drop in state general appropriations for higher education (including federal ARRA funds) following implementation. However, in a related analysis, I show that ARRA is negatively associated with state spending on student financial aid. Collectively, state policy trends and the ARRA analyses underscore the need for improved state policy in promoting college affordability, as an affordable college education is out of re...
Authored and Edited by Walter W. McMahon and Jennifer A. Delaney
ISBN: 979-821804838-9
This vol... more Authored and Edited by Walter W. McMahon and Jennifer A. Delaney
ISBN: 979-821804838-9
This volume presents original research on the external social benefits of higher education. The external benefits of higher education are the public, or social, benefits that flow to others, including future generations. These are distinguished from private benefits such as individual earnings. We are excited to present this research because these and other external social benefits are shown to be central to productivity growth, economic growth, broader per capita development, and hence to human well-being.
This book is the first and only known comprehensive documentation of the theory, size, and estimated value of the external individual and total social benefits of higher education. This is shown to be a key source of per capita total factor productivity growth and the main rationale on efficiency grounds in economics for public support. The book features the discovery and estimates of five new previously unidentified social benefits of higher education, as well as strong new empirical evidence strengthening the case for significant positive effects on democratization that interacts with human rights, political stability, and, indirectly through these, on higher per capita growth and development. The book also includes endogenization of new ideas through investment in the education of graduate students leading to careers in research and development. These social benefits of higher education, often modest in the short run, are, in the long run, essential to the improved well-being of individuals, communities, and nations.
AUTHORS AND EDITORS Walter W. McMahon is a Professor Emeritus of Economics and Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Jennifer A. Delaney is an Associate Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education
Edited by Jennifer A. Delaney
The severity of... more Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education
Edited by Jennifer A. Delaney
The severity of cuts and the unpredictability in state funding for higher education have garnered headlines across the nation since the turn of the present century. In this context, the authors in this new groundbreaking volume argue that too little attention is paid to the consequences of volatility in funding, as most discussions focus on levels of funding. Their research addresses an important blind spot in the academic literature since predictability matters—to institutions, students, families, and states. In addition, the risks of operating in an uncertain financial environment have led to behaviors that are not always in the best interests of states, institutions, faculty, students, or the public good.
2015 Journal of Education Finance Outstanding Article of the Year Award. Awarded for: Delaney, J.... more 2015 Journal of Education Finance Outstanding Article of the Year Award. Awarded for: Delaney, J. A. & Kearney, T. D. (2015). Guaranteed tuition policies and state general appropriations for higher education: A difference-in-difference analysis. Journal of Education Finance 40(4), 359-390.
The Charles F. Elton Best Paper Award celebrates the scholarly papers presented at the AIR annual... more The Charles F. Elton Best Paper Award celebrates the scholarly papers presented at the AIR annual conference (Forum) that best exemplify the standards of excellence established by the award's namesake and that make significant contributions to the field of IR. The purpose of the award is to promote scholarship and to acknowledge that AIR members make a wide variety of scholarly contributions to the field, ranging from theory to practice. 2014 Association for Institutional Research Charles F. Elton Best Paper Award. Awarded for: Delaney, J. A. & Kearney, T. D. (2015). Guaranteed tuition policies and state general appropriations for higher education: A difference-in-difference analysis. Journal of Education Finance 40(4), 359-390.
Journal of Education Finance Outstanding Article of the Year Award.
Awarded for: Delaney, J. A.,... more Journal of Education Finance Outstanding Article of the Year Award. Awarded for: Delaney, J. A., & Doyle, W. R. (2011). State spending on higher education: Testing the balance wheel over time. Journal of Education Finance, 36(4), 343-368.
With support from Lumina Foundation for Education, the Association for the Study of Higher Educat... more With support from Lumina Foundation for Education, the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) announces the ASHE/Lumina Foundation Fellowship Program. The key objective of this initiative is to promote innovative scholarship by creating an intergenerational community of scholars who will examine social, institutional, and policy barriers to opportunity and student success. Our goal is the development of new research questions, methodologies, and frameworks for the study of access and success that go beyond what is already known about critical topics related to, for example, college choice, financial aid, and student retention.
A February 2020 webinar entitled, Exploring Idaho’s Direct Admission Plan, sponsored by Hack the ... more A February 2020 webinar entitled, Exploring Idaho’s Direct Admission Plan, sponsored by Hack the Gates and ACCEPT.
Delaney, J. A. (2017). "A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of "Promise" Financial Aid Programs o... more Delaney, J. A. (2017). "A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of "Promise" Financial Aid Programs on Postsecondary Institutions" Paper presentation. National Education Finance Academy. Cincinnatti, OH.
Delaney, J. A. (2016) "A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of 'Promise' Financial Aid Programs" U... more Delaney, J. A. (2016) "A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of 'Promise' Financial Aid Programs" University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Higher Education Collaborative Brownbag.
Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (2016). Inside the Black Box: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis ... more Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (2016). Inside the Black Box: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of Shifts in Postsecondary Institution Spending Patterns in Response to “Promise” Financial Aid Programs. Promises Kept? New Research on Geographically-Based, Early Commitment Student Financial Aid Programs. Paper presentation. Association for the Study of Higher Education. Columbus, OH.
Delaney, J. A. (2016). The Perils of Unpredictability: The Consequences of Uncertainty in State A... more Delaney, J. A. (2016). The Perils of Unpredictability: The Consequences of Uncertainty in State Appropriations for Higher Education. State Governance and Higher Education. Paper presentation. Council on Public Policy in Higher Education, ASHE. Columbus, OH.
Delaney, J. A. (2016). The State of Affordability. Discussant. Council for Public Policy and High... more Delaney, J. A. (2016). The State of Affordability. Discussant. Council for Public Policy and Higher Education, ASHE. Columbus, OH.
Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (2016). A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of “Promise” Financial ... more Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (2016). A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of “Promise” Financial Aid Programs on Postsecondary Institutions. University of Illinois Office for Planning and Budgeting In-service. Urbana, IL.
Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (2016) Inside the Black Box: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of... more Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (2016) Inside the Black Box: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of Shifts in Postsecondary Institution Spending Patterns in Response to “Promise” Financial Aid Programs. Paper presentation. Focus on Illinois Education Research Symposium. Bloomington, IL.
Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (2016) Inside the Black Box: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of... more Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (2016) Inside the Black Box: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of Shifts in Postsecondary Institution Spending Patterns in Response to “Promise” Financial Aid Programs. Paper presentation. International Institute of Public Finance Conference. South Lake Tahoe, NV.
Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (4/16). "A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of "Promise" Financial... more Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (4/16). "A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of "Promise" Financial Aid Programs on Postsecondary Institutions" Paper presentation. Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference. Chicago, IL.
Delaney, J. A. (4/16). “Educating Diverse Populations: Examining outcomes for immigrants and mino... more Delaney, J. A. (4/16). “Educating Diverse Populations: Examining outcomes for immigrants and minority groups” Discussant. Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference. Chicago, IL.
Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (4/16). "A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of “Promise” Financial... more Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (4/16). "A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of “Promise” Financial Aid Programs and Postsecondary Institutions" Roundtable presentation (presented by Hemenway). American Educational Research Association. Washington, DC.
Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (3/16). "A Difference-inDifference
Analysis of “Promise” Financial... more Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (3/16). "A Difference-inDifference Analysis of “Promise” Financial Aid Programs on Postsecondary Institutions" Paper presentation. Association for Education Finance and Policy Annual Conference. Denver, CO.
Delaney, J. A. (3/16). "The Impact of Public Policy on Higher Education: Grants, Loans, and Postg... more Delaney, J. A. (3/16). "The Impact of Public Policy on Higher Education: Grants, Loans, and Postgraduate Outcomes" Discussant and Chair. Association for Education Finance and Policy Annual Conference. Denver, CO.
Delaney, J. A. (3/16). "Student Financial Aid II" Chair. Association for Education Finance and Po... more Delaney, J. A. (3/16). "Student Financial Aid II" Chair. Association for Education Finance and Policy. Denver, CO.
Delaney, J. A. (11/15). “Student Response to Financial Aid” Chair. Association for the Study of H... more Delaney, J. A. (11/15). “Student Response to Financial Aid” Chair. Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference. Denver, CO.
Delaney, J. A. (11/15). “State Policy Adoption” Discussant. Association for the Study of Higher E... more Delaney, J. A. (11/15). “State Policy Adoption” Discussant. Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference. Denver, CO.
Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (10/15). "Does a Promise Stay a Promise? A Difference-in-Difference... more Delaney, J. A. & Hemenway, B. (10/15). "Does a Promise Stay a Promise? A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of Universal-Eligilibility Financial Aid Programs on Postsecondary Institutions" Paper presentation. Focus on Illinois Education Research Symposium.
Testimony Prepared for the
Illinois General Assembly
Senate Committee of the Whole
June 16, 2... more Testimony Prepared for the
Illinois General Assembly
Senate Committee of the Whole
June 16, 2015
Springfield, IL
Dr. Jennifer A. Delaney
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Research by Delaney and Kearney cited in a State Council of Higher Education for Virginia report ... more Research by Delaney and Kearney cited in a State Council of Higher Education for Virginia report on guaranteed tuition.
New models of funding higher education are currently being considered in debates throughout Ameri... more New models of funding higher education are currently being considered in debates throughout America. One recent debate concerns funding through “Pay It Forward” (PIF) programs. Since 2013, at least 24 states have considered legislation on PIF models of higher education finance. While details differ, the rapid proliferation of PIF program proposals shows a willingness to move from the current system of upfront payment to an income-based system of payment after leaving college.
This is the question that we asked in a recent policy brief that was released through the Wiscons... more This is the question that we asked in a recent policy brief that was released through the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education. This policy brief is based on our prior work on cross-national higher education policy diffusion that considered postsecondary enrollment levels, completion levels, and the role of different types of tuition systems.
London School of Economics and Political Science: USApp Blog, Sep 11, 2014
Recent years have seen large increases in the cost of a college degree, with higher education ins... more Recent years have seen large increases in the cost of a college degree, with higher education institutions becoming more reliant on tuition fees rather than state funding. Part of 2009’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act had the aim of incentivizing states to spend more on higher education and to improve college affordability. Using a dataset spanning nine years and 50 states, Jennifer A. Delaney takes a close look at the policy’s effects. She finds that while states did not cut their appropriations for higher education, they do appear to have reduced student aid — a category of spending not specified in the legislation. She argues that if college is to remain affordable, future federal matching fund programs need to consider all types of state spending on higher education.
A Community of Higher Ed Scholars: The Official Blog of AERA Division J. , Apr 7, 2014
A few scholars have written about efficiency in higher education at a conceptual level and the te... more A few scholars have written about efficiency in higher education at a conceptual level and the tension among access (equity), quality, and efficiency. In addition, a couple scholars have applied ideas of adequacy to the study of equity in higher education. However, we believe that more research like this should be done in the fields of higher education finance and public policy.
In his 2014 State of the State address, Governor Quinn proposed doubling funding for the Illinois... more In his 2014 State of the State address, Governor Quinn proposed doubling funding for the Illinois Monetary Awards Program (MAP). “So, over the next five years – let’s double the number of MAP college scholarships for students in need in Illinois. Our MAP scholarship program currently helps 140,000 students go to college.” He argued that “By doubling the number of MAP scholarships, we can make sure deserving students in need are equipped to excel in the 21st century workplace.”
In this blog posting I address the following questions:
Will doubling MAP result in all eligible students receiving an award?
What will it cost to double MAP?
Do students who are eligible for MAP really need the award?
Education Policy Blog and WISCAPE Blog (cross-posted), Jan 27, 2014
States tend to recover more slowly than does the general economy because states need to wait for ... more States tend to recover more slowly than does the general economy because states need to wait for taxes to be levied in order to see their state treasuries rebound. Hence, recovery on state spending for higher education tends to lag behind general economic recoveries.
One way to think about how well states are doing in supplying need-based grant aid is to compare ... more One way to think about how well states are doing in supplying need-based grant aid is to compare the efforts of each state to the amount that the federal government spends on need-based aid in each state through the Pell grant program. Need-based grant aid is aid that is awarded to students who show demonstrated financial need (or are low-income). My research shows show the remarkable extent of the erosion of state support for need-based aid. This trend towards reducing the amount spent on need-based aid in the states as compared to the federal investment in Pell grants has concerning implications for college affordability. The solution is for states to reinvigorate their investment in need-based student financial aid. Not to do so will mean that many students will continue to lack the financial resources to make their college dreams a reality.
Just nine states provide 72.6% of all need-based undergraduate grant aid in the US. The other 41 ... more Just nine states provide 72.6% of all need-based undergraduate grant aid in the US. The other 41 states’ collective effort amounts to only 27.4% of the total effort made by states in this area. Given this uneven distribution of state need-based grant aid across the country, students’ prospects for college are largely shaped by where they live.
Today it is almost impossible to discuss college affordability without also considering the impac... more Today it is almost impossible to discuss college affordability without also considering the impact of affordability on the level of student indebtedness. This blog post considers recent data from the College Board and the Project on Student Debt about current student debt levels and offers links to relevant articles and policy proposals about student debt.
Earlier this year, Zócalo Public Square asked several higher education policy experts: Will Ameri... more Earlier this year, Zócalo Public Square asked several higher education policy experts: Will America’s public universities remain competitive with elite private universities in their teaching and research? Several researchers and experts responded (you can view the full discussion here). Among them was Forum Fellow and University of Illinois Assistant Professor, Dr. Jennifer Delaney.
We’ve long been proud of our great public universities in the United States. Historically, they’v... more We’ve long been proud of our great public universities in the United States. Historically, they’ve been both superb and inexpensive. The University of California system has long represented a pinnacle of scholarship, even as it has helped to make higher education affordable to thousands of Californians. But now UC and other state schools across the nation have been subject to severe cuts, and tuitions have been rising. With fewer resources, state schools now have a tougher time holding their own against elite private universities. In advance of the Zócalo event “Can the Next President Put Public Universities Back On Top?” we asked several education policy mavens for their thoughts on the following question: Will America’s public universities remain competitive with elite private universities in their teaching and research?
November 6, 2023
Article By Susan H. Greenberg
The Common Application is expanding its direct a... more November 6, 2023 Article By Susan H. Greenberg
The Common Application is expanding its direct admissions efforts, this month partnering with 70 institutions in 28 states to offer proactive admission to more than 200,000 prospective college students, Education Week reported.
Taylor Odle, Jennifer A. Delaney, and Preston Magouirk
October 23, 2023
- Students enter the col... more Taylor Odle, Jennifer A. Delaney, and Preston Magouirk October 23, 2023
- Students enter the college application process on unequal footing – with various levels of financial, social, and cultural capital they can rely on to navigate it.
- At least 10 states and hundreds of colleges and universities have begun “direct admissions” programs, which proactively admit students using data like their GPA and ACT/SAT scores rather than asking them to apply.
- Simplifying the college application process is one necessary but still insufficient way to broaden access to higher education.
An emerging university admissions system is helping underprivileged applicants by reversing the t... more An emerging university admissions system is helping underprivileged applicants by reversing the traditional process.
The Chronicle of Higher Education: The Review, 2023
OpEd by Jenifer A. Delaney
Higher education is the third-largest budget category of state spendi... more OpEd by Jenifer A. Delaney
Higher education is the third-largest budget category of state spending. Total state spending on public higher education in the United States reached a whopping $108.1 billion in the 2022 fiscal year. However, nationwide higher-education support has shrunk from 10.2 percent of total state budgets in the 2019 fiscal year (before the pandemic) to 8.7 percent in the 2022 fiscal year. That rapid change in spending levels over a short period has resulted in an unpredictable environment.
Article By Eric Hoover
August 22, 2023
Direct-admissions offers prompted more students to apply ... more Article By Eric Hoover August 22, 2023
Direct-admissions offers prompted more students to apply to college but did not influence their enrollment behavior, a new study found. The results, released on Tuesday, suggest that an automatic acceptance alone isn’t a college-access game-changer.
Article by Emma Davis
August 23, 2023
Students are twice as likely to take steps toward enrollme... more Article by Emma Davis August 23, 2023
Students are twice as likely to take steps toward enrollment at a college that offers them direct admission, according to a new, national Common App study.
Article by Jon Edelman
Aug 22, 2023
For a prospective college student beleaguered by the complex... more Article by Jon Edelman Aug 22, 2023
For a prospective college student beleaguered by the complexities of the application process, direct admissions is like a dream come true. If their GPA or standardized test scores are high enough, colleges with direct admissions programs will send them acceptance letters without their even having to apply. All that’s required of them is to return a simplified form with no supplemental questions or essays. A fee waiver is included, to boot.
Article by Susan H. Greenberg
August 23, 2023
Large-scale study finds that guaranteeing free, si... more Article by Susan H. Greenberg August 23, 2023
Large-scale study finds that guaranteeing free, simplified admission increases college applications from minoritized, low-income and first-gen students, but cost still deters them from enrolling.
In April, AERA published Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education, edited by Jennifer A.... more In April, AERA published Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education, edited by Jennifer A. Delaney. Under Delaney’s leadership, the collected chapters in this book draw attention to the role of predictability in state support for higher education.
APR 25, 2023 10:15 AM
ARTICLE BY SHARITA FORREST
Jennifer Delaney is a professor of higher educat... more APR 25, 2023 10:15 AM ARTICLE BY SHARITA FORREST Jennifer Delaney is a professor of higher education in the department of education policy, organization and leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has co-written studies that examine the impact of direct college admissions – where all students who attain certain high school GPAs are automatically admitted. Delaney spoke with News Bureau education editor Sharita Forrest about this trend and the implications for equity and diversity.
This April, AERA will release Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education, a pioneering boo... more This April, AERA will release Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education, a pioneering book led by volume editor Jennifer A. Delaney (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign). Emanating from an AERA research conference, this volume frames new issues and breaks new ground.
College of Education News, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2023
This April, AERA will release Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education, a pioneering boo... more This April, AERA will release Volatility in State Spending for Higher Education, a pioneering book led by volume editor Jennifer Delaney, professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Emanating from an AERA research conference, this volume frames new issues and breaks new ground.
Article by Sharita Forest
Universities’ subsidization of their athletic programs decreased while ... more Article by Sharita Forest Universities’ subsidization of their athletic programs decreased while these programs’ spending increased when a college sports TV network was introduced in their conference, according to a study by then-graduate student Tyler Kearney, currently the associate vice president for finance and administration at Louisiana State University; and Jennifer A. Delaney, a professor of education policy, organization and leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Article by Ianne Salvosa Jan 17, 2023 3:52 AM
The maximum Pell Grant award is set to increase by ... more Article by Ianne Salvosa Jan 17, 2023 3:52 AM The maximum Pell Grant award is set to increase by $500 in the next academic year, but experts said the rise will pay little dividends for recipients who attend GW as tuition continues to rise to an all-time high.
Article by Ianne Salvosa and Jackson Rickert
GW Hatchet
Nov 21, 2022 5:04 AM
Officials said mor... more Article by Ianne Salvosa and Jackson Rickert GW Hatchet Nov 21, 2022 5:04 AM
Officials said more than a fifth of all students rejected federal loans during the last academic year after reassessing their budgets.
Article by by Tom Hanlon
Sep 27, 2022
The White House recently announced several measures—includ... more Article by by Tom Hanlon Sep 27, 2022
The White House recently announced several measures—including debt relief for 43 million borrowers—that will ease students’ financial burden. Jennifer A. Delaney of the College of Education explains the measures and the issues that gave rise to them.
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Papers by Jennifer A . Delaney
Complexity and uncertainty in the college application process contribute to longstanding racial and socioeconomic disparities in enrollment. We leverage a large-scale experiment that combines an early guarantee of college admission with a proactive nudge, fee waiver, and structural application simplification to test the impacts of emerging “direct admissions” policies on students’ college-going behaviors. Students in the intervention were 2.7 percentage points (or 12%) more likely to submit a college application, with larger impacts for racially minoritized, first-generation, and low-income students. Students were most responsive to automatic offers from larger, higher quality institutions on the application margin, but were not more likely to subsequently enroll. In the face of growing adoption, we show this low-cost, low-touch intervention can move the needle on important college-going behaviors but is insufficient alone to increase enrollment given other barriers to access, including the ability to pay for college.
JEL Classifications: I22, I23
Delaney, J. A., & Hemenway, B. (2023). A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of Shifts in Postsecondary Institution Spending Patterns in Response to “Promise” Financial Aid Programs. Educational Policy, 37(4), 1102–1150. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048211049431
Rethinking College Admissions probes the many facets of higher education admissions and translates research-backed insights into actionable strategies for innovative, equitable admissions practices.
https://www.hepg.org/hep-home/books/rethinking-college-admissions
Complexity and uncertainty in the college application process contribute to longstanding racial and socioeconomic disparities in enrollment. We leverage a large-scale experiment that combines an early guarantee of college admission with a proactive nudge, fee waiver, and structural application simplification to test the impacts of emerging “direct admissions” policies on students’ college-going behaviors. Students in the intervention were 2.7 percentage points (or 12%) more likely to submit a college application, with larger impacts for racially minoritized, first-generation, and low-income students. Students were most responsive to automatic offers from larger, higher quality institutions on the application margin, but were not more likely to subsequently enroll. In the face of growing adoption, we show this low-cost, low-touch intervention can move the needle on important college-going behaviors but is insufficient alone to increase enrollment given other barriers to access, including the ability to pay for college.
JEL Classifications: I22, I23
Delaney, J. A., & Hemenway, B. (2023). A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of Shifts in Postsecondary Institution Spending Patterns in Response to “Promise” Financial Aid Programs. Educational Policy, 37(4), 1102–1150. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048211049431
Rethinking College Admissions probes the many facets of higher education admissions and translates research-backed insights into actionable strategies for innovative, equitable admissions practices.
https://www.hepg.org/hep-home/books/rethinking-college-admissions
ISBN: 979-821804838-9
This volume presents original research on the external social benefits of higher education. The external benefits of higher education are the public, or social, benefits that flow to others, including future generations. These are distinguished from private benefits such as individual earnings. We are excited to present this research because these and other external social benefits are shown to be central to productivity growth, economic growth, broader per capita development, and hence to human well-being.
This book is the first and only known comprehensive documentation of the theory, size, and estimated value of the external individual and total social benefits of higher education. This is shown to be a key source of per capita total factor productivity growth and the main rationale on efficiency grounds in economics for public support. The book features the discovery and estimates of five new previously unidentified social benefits of higher education, as well as strong new empirical evidence strengthening the case for significant positive effects on democratization that interacts with human rights, political stability, and, indirectly through these, on higher per capita growth and development. The book also includes endogenization of new ideas through investment in the education of graduate students leading to careers in research and development. These social benefits of higher education, often modest in the short run, are, in the long run, essential to the improved well-being of individuals, communities, and nations.
AUTHORS AND EDITORS
Walter W. McMahon is a Professor Emeritus of Economics and Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Jennifer A. Delaney is an Associate Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Edited by Jennifer A. Delaney
The severity of cuts and the unpredictability in state funding for higher education have garnered headlines across the nation since the turn of the present century. In this context, the authors in this new groundbreaking volume argue that too little attention is paid to the consequences of volatility in funding, as most discussions focus on levels of funding. Their research addresses an important blind spot in the academic literature since predictability matters—to institutions, students, families, and states. In addition, the risks of operating in an uncertain financial environment have led to behaviors that are not always in the best interests of states, institutions, faculty, students, or the public good.
2014 Association for Institutional Research Charles F. Elton Best Paper Award.
Awarded for: Delaney, J. A. & Kearney, T. D. (2015). Guaranteed tuition policies and state general appropriations for higher education: A difference-in-difference analysis. Journal of Education Finance 40(4), 359-390.
Awarded for: Delaney, J. A., & Doyle, W. R. (2011). State spending on higher education: Testing the balance wheel over time. Journal of Education Finance, 36(4), 343-368.
Analysis of “Promise” Financial Aid Programs on Postsecondary
Institutions" Paper presentation. Association for Education Finance and Policy Annual Conference. Denver, CO.
Illinois General Assembly
Senate Committee of the Whole
June 16, 2015
Springfield, IL
Dr. Jennifer A. Delaney
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
In this blog posting I address the following questions:
Will doubling MAP result in all eligible students receiving an award?
What will it cost to double MAP?
Do students who are eligible for MAP really need the award?
Article By Susan H. Greenberg
The Common Application is expanding its direct admissions efforts, this month partnering with 70 institutions in 28 states to offer proactive admission to more than 200,000 prospective college students, Education Week reported.
October 23, 2023
- Students enter the college application process on unequal footing – with various levels of financial, social, and cultural capital they can rely on to navigate it.
- At least 10 states and hundreds of colleges and universities have begun “direct admissions” programs, which proactively admit students using data like their GPA and ACT/SAT scores rather than asking them to apply.
- Simplifying the college application process is one necessary but still insufficient way to broaden access to higher education.
Higher education is the third-largest budget category of state spending. Total state spending on public higher education in the United States reached a whopping $108.1 billion in the 2022 fiscal year. However, nationwide higher-education support has shrunk from 10.2 percent of total state budgets in the 2019 fiscal year (before the pandemic) to 8.7 percent in the 2022 fiscal year. That rapid change in spending levels over a short period has resulted in an unpredictable environment.
August 22, 2023
Direct-admissions offers prompted more students to apply to college but did not influence their enrollment behavior, a new study found. The results, released on Tuesday, suggest that an automatic acceptance alone isn’t a college-access game-changer.
August 23, 2023
Students are twice as likely to take steps toward enrollment at a college that offers them direct admission, according to a new, national Common App study.
August 22, 2023
The organization began piloting the model in 2021, with the latest iteration sending 33,000 automatic admissions offers to students at 13 colleges.
Aug 22, 2023
For a prospective college student beleaguered by the complexities of the application process, direct admissions is like a dream come true. If their GPA or standardized test scores are high enough, colleges with direct admissions programs will send them acceptance letters without their even having to apply. All that’s required of them is to return a simplified form with no supplemental questions or essays. A fee waiver is included, to boot.
August 23, 2023
Large-scale study finds that guaranteeing free, simplified admission increases college applications from minoritized, low-income and first-gen students, but cost still deters them from enrolling.
Students are being admitted to an expanding number of colleges without a human ever looking at their application.
ARTICLE BY SHARITA FORREST
Jennifer Delaney is a professor of higher education in the department of education policy, organization and leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has co-written studies that examine the impact of direct college admissions – where all students who attain certain high school GPAs are automatically admitted. Delaney spoke with News Bureau education editor Sharita Forrest about this trend and the implications for equity and diversity.
Universities’ subsidization of their athletic programs decreased while these programs’ spending increased when a college sports TV network was introduced in their conference, according to a study by then-graduate student Tyler Kearney, currently the associate vice president for finance and administration at Louisiana State University; and Jennifer A. Delaney, a professor of education policy, organization and leadership at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The maximum Pell Grant award is set to increase by $500 in the next academic year, but experts said the rise will pay little dividends for recipients who attend GW as tuition continues to rise to an all-time high.
GW Hatchet
Nov 21, 2022 5:04 AM
Officials said more than a fifth of all students rejected federal loans during the last academic year after reassessing their budgets.
Sep 27, 2022
The White House recently announced several measures—including debt relief for 43 million borrowers—that will ease students’ financial burden. Jennifer A. Delaney of the College of Education explains the measures and the issues that gave rise to them.