Comprehensive access and outcomes: Modeling the impacts on student-level outcomes of attention to resourcing tertiary education opportunities for underserved students

Access to most Chilean postsecondary institutions, especially the most selective, remains stratified along economic and indigenous lines (Espinoza, 2008; Koljatic & Silva, 2006; Matear, 2006; OECD, 2003). Further, even among those who gain entry, persistence and graduation rates are similarly disparate (OECD, 2009). For Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, the comprehensive process of admitting students and awarding financial support is primarily driven by the use of the Prueba de Seleccíon Universitaria (PSU) scores alongside economic need to make selection decisions. Even prior to 2007, the most economically disadvantaged were already receiving assistance. However, beginning in 2007, almost all students with financial need systematically received one or more scholarship benefits, although the combinations of national and institutional scholarships have varied.

The present study considers these issues to answer the following questions: 1) Are there differences in persistence rates, by race, ethnicity, and indigenous status,  of students who enrolled with different combinations of national and institutional financial scholarship benefits packages and similar students enrolled absent the benefit?  2) What factors predict persistence among the financial aid beneficiaries, and do these factors play a similar role for similar students who were admitted under different criteria?

To examine the relative persistence patterns of need-based scholarship students over time, initially the study employs event history analysis using Cox proportional hazard regression models to understand the net influence of the receipt of various combinations of one or more need-based awards on Bachelors degree completion and time to degree. Additional regression discontinuity analyses are employed to assess the effectiveness of the policy intervention on PPA.

It is hoped that the study may provide inferential evidence of how a full range of policies might affect the student body makeup and, among those already admitted, the relative contributions of various individual characteristics toward retention and graduation outcomes.