Published online first in:
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis
January 14, 2015
Nicholas W. Hillman, University of Wisconsin-Madison
David A. Tandberg, Florida State University
Alisa H. Fryar, University of Oklahoma
Abstract
In 2007, Washington adopted the Student Achievement Initiative, a statewide performance accountability system designed to improve retention rates and degree productivity among community colleges. Using difference-in-differences analysis, we found that the policy change has had little immediate effect on retention rates or associate’s degree productivity. However, community colleges produced more short-term certificates after the policy reform. These results are robust across many alternative comparison groups. Considering that certificates yield less value in the labor market than associate’s degrees but are easier for colleges to produce, we discuss the unintended consequences of rewarding colleges based on the number of credentials they produce.