Word: cash
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...Students offered cash incentives in the Louisiana program didn't just enroll in more classes; they earned more credits and were more likely to attain a C average than were nonparticipants. And they showed psychological benefits too, reporting more positive feelings about themselves and their abilities to accomplish their goals for the future. "It's not very often that you see effects of this magnitude for anything that we test," notes Thomas Brock, MDRC's director for young adults and postsecondary-education policy...
...Given that the follow-up study of the program was disrupted as the schools struggled to rebuild enrollment and facilities in the wake of Katrina, it's difficult to draw any long-term conclusions about the effects that cash incentives will have on community-college students. However, there could soon be more data to parse: with a grant from the Gates Foundation, MDRC plans to test cash incentives at community and state colleges in California, New Mexico, New York and Ohio...
...Despite the study's impressive, albeit short-term results, some critics in higher education are concerned that cash incentives will encourage students to start taking easier courses to ensure they'll do well enough to pocket the money. "Everyone knows what the gut classes are when you're in college," notes Kirabo Jackson, an assistant professor of labor economics at Cornell who has studied cash incentives for high school students. "By rewarding people for a GPA, you're actually giving them an impetus to take an easier route through college." Other critics note that students' internal drive to learn...
...those involved with the study note that particularly in this economy, cash incentives could help part-time students devote more hours to their studies. Faced with soaring bills for tuition, books and housing, many college students need a job just to get by. In the Louisiana program, all the participants were low-income parents, three-quarters of whom were unmarried or living without a partner. "We're talking about adults who have quite a number of other responsibilities," says Brock. "When you're talking about minors who are required by law to be in school, that's a different situation...
...Arnel Cosey, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs and provost for the City Park Campus at New Orleans' Delgado Community College, one of two schools in the study, says she understands why some people are concerned that cash incentives are nothing more than bribery. "But on the other hand, I think because I am involved with these students daily, I'm not sure that I'm opposed to bribing," she says. "If that's what we need to do for these people to reach these goals, which ultimately will lead to them having a better life, I wish...