Do learning communities increase first year college retention? Evidence from a randomized control trial

Abstract

In this paper, we estimate the impact of a learning community on first-year college retention at a four-year public research university using a randomized control trial (RCT) for those students who opt into the experiment. Intent-to-treat and local-average-treatment-effect estimates reveal no discernable programmatic effects. We also generate estimates of program impact using observational techniques and find estimated impacts that are positive, large and statistically significant. We explore a variety of selection processes to better understand the differences between the RCT and observational estimates and to reflect on the generalizability of the RCT results for various other populations of interest. Non-random selection into the experimental sample accounts for the major difference in the two estimates and also cautions against generalizing the RCT result for populations outside the experiment.