Project Lead: Katharine Broton

Funding Approved: Fiscal Year 24
Project Status: In Progress  
Funded amount: $130,617 over two years

This project aims to evaluate the impact of University of Iowa need-based financial assistance programs on students' GPA, credits earned, retention, and graduation rates. By leveraging substantial institutional data and employing quasi-experimental methods, researchers will determine when and for whom financial assistance is most effective. The study involves close collaboration between researchers and campus stakeholders, ensuring that findings can support the expansion or refinement of financial assistance programs to enhance academic success and reduce disparities among students.

Activities to date:

• Gathered input from campus partners regarding project implementation, aligning the project with their interests and needs.
• Worked with campus partners to compile de-identified datasets, initiated data cleaning, coding, and labeling of variables.
• Started initial data analysis in spring 2024. 
  • Will refine analyses based on preliminary findings and feedback from stakeholders.

Next Steps:

In year two, the project leaders will engage in iterative cycles of analysis and feedback with campus partners and stakeholders, discussing initial findings and refining analyses based on their requests. The team will produce a final report summarizing project activities, findings, and key recommendations to inform and enhance the effectiveness of financial assistance programs at the University of Iowa.