Overview

College provides a great economic boost to those who attend. Yet for students in poverty, the barriers to college success can be immense—and graduation rates remain quite low. Wallin Scholars is a long-standing program serving Minnesota young people from families with low incomes as they first enter college. The program provides integrated advising, career services, and financial aid, with the goal of helping more students complete degrees and enter the middle class.

Following a successful nine months of planning, starting in 2024, MDRC will partner with Wallin Scholars and CoLab to complete a rigorous, seven-year evaluation of the Wallin Scholars program. MDRC will conduct a randomized controlled trial over two entering classes of students to learn more about the program’s implementation, effects on academic outcomes, and cost-effectiveness. The evaluation will inform Wallin’s program operations and add meaningfully to the research base on “what works” to help students from families with low incomes succeed in college and the labor market.