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Washington State Institute for Public Policy
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Tuition sticker price increase at 2-year college (for college students)

Higher Education
  Literature review updated August 2017.

The study in this analysis estimates the effects of a change in the price of tuition at 2-year colleges on students’ likelihood of persisting from the beginning to the end of their first year of college. The result is presented as an “elasticity” and is interpreted as the percent change in an outcome we expect from a 1% increase in tuition price.

The study in this meta-analysis examines tuition price without subtracting federal Pell grants from full price values. In addition, the study uses individual-level data in its evaluation. Results of group-level analyses can differ from the results of analyses of the individuals within the same groups. The study in this analysis evaluates the effects of an increase in tuition price for students who are already enrolled in college. The population in the study is undocumented/illegal immigrants. Because undocumented/illegal immigrants experience a unique legal environment, it is unclear to what extent the results of this analysis are generalizable to the broader student population in Washington.
 
ALL
META-ANALYSIS
CITATIONS

**The effect size for this outcome represents an elasticity, not a standardized mean difference effect size.

Meta-analysis is a statistical method to combine the results from separate studies on a program, policy, or topic to estimate its effect on an outcome. WSIPP systematically evaluates all credible evaluations we can locate on each topic. The outcomes measured are the program impacts measured in the research literature (for example, impacts on crime or educational attainment). Treatment N represents the total number of individuals or units in the treatment group across the included studies.

An effect size (ES) is a standard metric that summarizes the degree to which a program or policy affects a measured outcome. If the effect size is positive, the outcome increases. If the effect size is negative, the outcome decreases. See Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes for additional information on how we estimate effect sizes.

The effect size may be adjusted from the unadjusted effect size estimated in the meta-analysis. Historically, WSIPP adjusted effect sizes to some programs based on the methodological characteristics of the study. For programs reviewed in 2024 or later, we do not make additional adjustments, and we use the unadjusted effect size whenever we run a benefit-cost analysis.

Research shows the magnitude of effects may change over time. For those effect sizes, we estimate outcome-based adjustments, which we apply between the first time ES is estimated and the second time ES is estimated. More details about these adjustments can be found in our Technical Documentation.

Meta-Analysis of Program Effects
Outcomes measured No. of effect sizes Treatment N Effect sizes (ES) and standard errors (SE) Unadjusted effect size (random effects model)
ES SE Age ES p-value
Persistence within 1st year**
Persistence from enrollment through the end of the first year of higher education in a 2- or 4-year institution.
 18 1 33513 -0.088 0.093 18 -0.088 0.343

Citations Used in the Meta-Analysis

Conger, D. & Turner, L.J. (2015). The impact of tuition increases on undocumented college students' attainment. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.