@EdWorkingPaper{ai23-819,
title = "“Non-Submitters:” Evidence on Students Who Start but Don’t Complete a College Application",
author = "Taylor Odle, Preston Magouirk",
institution = "Annenberg Institute at Brown University",
number = "819",
year = "2023",
month = "August",
URL = "http://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai23-819",
abstract = {Not all students who could benefit from college apply. With novel data on over 1.2 million high schoolers, we show that nearly 25% start but never complete a college application. We use descriptive techniques, data visualizations, and fixed effects models to explore this population of college-interested “non-submitters” to observe application behaviors; document differences across individual, school, and community contexts; and identify factors most predictive of non-submission. We find large gaps by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and education-career plans, as well as by school type and community features. We also find that early application tasks and engagement strongly predict non-submission. This study breaks ground for future research into this unexplored group and informs strategies to support those at risk of non-submission.},
}