College Bound program shows early promise 

College Bound (CB) is a non-profit organization that provides a variety of free services to low-income, Hispanic, and African American students with the goal of increasing their interest in and readiness for college. It began in 2006 and serves approximately 1,100 students and their parents in four partner high schools in and around St. Louis, Missouri. This paper from the RAND Corporation examines the impact of the CB program on students' behavioral, achievement, and postsecondary outcomes.

RAND used both quantitative and qualitative methods to compare CB students with a group of comparison students who were similar in test performance and demographics to the CB students, but who did not participate in the program. Early results show that CB students improved their grades and test scores over what would have been expected if they had not participated in the program, and they were more likely to attend college. 

These early results show promise; however, RAND does make a cautionary note about their findings: "While this analytic approach allows us to estimate program impact, it cannot account for unobserved student characteristics, such as differences relating to motivation, that could conceivably influence enrollment into a program. Additional studies, such as through the use of a randomized design, are needed in order to draw causal inferences."

Johns Hopkins University

School of Education

Center for Research and Reform in Education

Research in Brief