Summaries of Research Grants

Grant Recipient: University of Southern California 

Term: 2025 – 2026 

Principal Investigator(s): Dima Qato, University of Southern California 

Rebecca Myerson, Emory University 

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate a Massachusetts statewide standing order that allowed pharmacies to dispense emergency contraceptives, such as the Ella and Plan-B pill, without requiring a visit to the doctor starting in August 2022. Using a difference-in-differences design, the study will examine the policy’s effects on the use of emergency contraceptives per 100,000 women of reproductive age and the number of fills for emergency contraception per store. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here. 

Grant Recipient: Oregon State University 

Term: 2025 – 2026 

Principal Investigator(s): Elizabeth Schroeder, Oregon State University 

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate pharmacy access laws, which have been adopted in more than half the states since 2016. These laws authorize pharmacists to write prescriptions for hormonal contraception without requiring a doctor’s visit, which the goal of reducing barriers to birth control access. Using a synthetic difference-in-differences design, the study will measure the impact of policy adoption on statewide birth rates up to seven years after policy roll-out. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here. 

Grant Recipient: University of Arkansas  

Principal Investigator: Moiz Bhai, University of Arkansas at Little Rock 

Term: 2026 – 2027 

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to estimate the impact of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) Scope of Practice (SOP) laws. APRN SOP laws give nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives full practice authority to prescribe medication and treat patients without physician supervision. Using a staggered difference-in-differences design, the study will leverage variation in policy adoption across states from 2004-2023 to estimate effects on contraceptive access and prescription rates, as well as the APRN workforce supply. 

This project is a long-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Teen Options to Prevent Pregnancy (T.O.P.P.) — a program for low-income adolescent mothers, delivered by nurse educators and a social worker, which aims to reduce rapid repeat pregnancy and promote healthy birth spacing.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Teen Options to Prevent Pregnancy (T.O.P.P.) program for low-income teenage mothers as implemented in 11 public hospitals in the New York City Health and Hospital (H+H) system.

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This project is a long-term follow-up of an ongoing randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Boston’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). SYEPs provide youth aged 14 – 24 with a minimum wage, part-time job during the summer in either the nonprofit, government, or private sector. 

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Project SCOPE: Safety, Cleaning, Ownership, Partnership, Engagement, being implemented by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) and SEPTA Police Department (SEPTA PD) in the Philadelphia transit system. 

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This grant will fund a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of ConTextos’ Authors Circle, a jail-based memoir writing program designed to develop participants’ critical thinking and communication skills, with the ultimate goal of reducing jail misconduct and post-release recidivism. 

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This study is an RCT of Functional Family Therapy – Gangs (FFT‑G), a therapeutic intervention for justice-involved youth and their families with promising prior evidence that it can reduce recidivism. 

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Over the course of seven years, the grantee will conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America’s (BBBSA) community-based mentoring program for disadvantaged youth.

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This grant will fund a randomized controlled trial (RCTs) of evidence-based programs – ACT and FACT – for justice-involved individuals with serious mental illness who are high utilizers of hospitals and/or jails in Dallas County. 

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Interventions, a non-proprietary manualized cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) program for justice-involved individuals with mental illness. 

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This is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an adapted version of the Critical Time Intervention (CTI), a case management program designed to connect mentally-ill clients with community services and insure they have an appropriate support system.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an intervention that combines in-hospital Motivational Interviewing and Critical Time Intervention. 

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This project is an RCT of Fostering Healthy Futures for Teens (FHF‑T), a nine-month intensive mentoring program for 8th and 9th-graders with open child welfare cases and histories of maltreatment. 

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This is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of offering federal “Pell” grants to incarcerated adults to pursue postsecondary education. 

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This is a three-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the effectiveness of two different interventions for men and women soon to be released from prison with substance use disorders: Therapeutic Communities and Interactive Journaling. 

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Youth Advocate Programs’ (YAP) community-based intensive mentorship and “wraparound” support program.

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This is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Rapid Employment and Development Initiative (READI), a program that provides 18-month transitional jobs, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and additional services for adult men at high risk of being perpetrators and/or victims of gun violence (most but not all of whom are justice-involved). 

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The Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act (EAAA) program is a sexual assault resistance program for first-year female university students that has been rigorously evaluated and shown to produce large reductions in sexual assault on college campuses. 

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Grant Recipient: Urban Institute  

Principal Investigator: Michael Pergamit, Urban Institute  

Anne Farrell, Urban Institute  

Mark Courtney, University of Chicago  

Term: 2025 – 2027  

Summary: This project is an extension of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the LifeSet program in New Jersey. LifeSet provides at-risk youth and young adults leaving foster care, juvenile justice, and mental health systems with intensive in-home support and guidance to make a successful transition to adulthood.  LifeSet specialists meet weekly with participants to support progress toward goals related to education, employment, housing, and well-being, as well as provide 24/7 crisis support. 

This study will build on the initial LifeSet evaluation, which randomly assigned 661 eligible young adults to a treatment group that was offered the LifeSet program (384 individuals) or a control group that received services as usual (277 individuals). The study will use state and national administrative data to measure the impacts on two primary outcomes: (i) connection to education and/or employment (meaning whether the individual is engaged in either work or education), and (ii) educational attainment, both measured two years after randomization. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here.  

Grant Recipient: Urban Institute 

Principal Investigator: Marla McDaniel, Urban Institute 

Michael Pergamit, Urban Institute  

Term: 2024 – 2026 

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to examine the impact of Project Connect in Rhode Island. Project Connect is a home-based intervention for families involved in the child welfare system affected by substance use. The program assigns each family to a primary program worker and depending on the case, any combination of a multi-disciplinary team that includes a nurse, a parent educator, a visitation worker, a supervisor, and a manager. All primary program workers are trained in recovery support and can screen families for mental health and substance use concerns. 

This study builds on a previous RCT which randomized 196 families requiring substance use services whose children were in out-of-home care at the start of the study (98 treatment and 98 control) that examined the rate and strength of eventual family reunification at 12 months post-randomization. This study will estimate impacts on two primary outcomes at 24 months post-randomization (roughly 12 months post-treatment): (i) the share of children reunified; and (ii) the share of children reunified with no placement disruptions within the prior six months. 

Grant Recipient: Urban Institute  

Principal Investigator: Devlin Hanson, Urban Institute  

Bridgette Lery, Urban Institute  

Term: 2024 – 2029  

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate Kentucky’s Hi-Fidelity Wraparound Program. The program implements a care-coordination model designed to support children at risk of foster care placement and their families. The program uses a “Wraparound Team” to develop and implement tailored service plans using elements of trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for children facing significant emotional or behavioral challenges. 

The study will randomize approximately 2,684 eligible children to either a treatment group who will receive a referral for Wraparound services or a control group who will continue receiving services as usual. The study will measure the impact on out-of-home placement 12 months after randomization. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here. 

Grant Recipient: Urban Institute   

Term: 2024 – 2030 

Principal Investigator(s): Michael Pergamit, Urban Institute 

Devlin Hanson, Urban Institute 

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating New Jersey’s Keeping Families Together (KFT) program. KFT is a supportive housing program that provides safe, permanent housing alongside evidence-based, trauma-informed services for families involved in the child welfare system. Using a Housing First model, the program offers housing vouchers, intensive case management, and individual and group clinical services to families experiencing homelessness or housing instability and other co-occurring risk factors. 

In this study, 878 eligible families will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: a treatment group that will be offered a housing voucher and KFT program services, or a control group that will continue to receive child welfare system services-as-usual based on their assessed needs. The study will measure two-year impacts on child welfare outcomes, specifically the rate of removals or the rate of reunifications, depending on the family’s classification within KFT. 

Grant Recipient: Regents of the University of Michigan 

Principal Investigator: Marilyn Sinkewicz, University of Michigan 

Term: 2024 – 2027  

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate Mississippi’s Kinship Care Navigator Program. This program was designed to support kinship caregivers of children by offering information, referrals, and connections to federal, state, and local programs while removing barriers to needed resources, as well as promoting child safety, permanency, and well-being. 

This study will randomly assign approximately 84 caregivers to either a treatment group which will receive the Kinship Care Navigator Program or to a waitlisted control group that will receive services as usual. The study will measure impacts on child permanency rates, defined as the caregiver either seeking or having attained legal custody and the child not having re/entered into state custody, 12 months after random assignment.  

This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of SafeCare, an in-home, parent-training program for families with substantiated allegations of child abuse or neglect at risk of having their child(ren) removed from the home.

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This randomized controlled trial (RCT) will evaluate KIN TECH — a kinship navigation program designed to support kinship caregivers, i.e. grandparents or other relatives caring for abused or neglected children that have been formally placed with them by Child Protective Services.

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This project will fund longer-term follow-up of an ongoing large-scale randomized controlled trial — entitled Baby’s First Years — evaluating the impact of providing low-income mothers of newborn children with monthly cash payments for the first 48 months of their children’s lives.

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The program will be delivered using a telehealth approach via iPads provided to study participants.

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This 12-month project is a study of the long-term impacts of the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) on mortality among the mothers and children served by the program.

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This is a multi-site randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of Child First, a home visiting program for low-income families with young children at high risk of emotional, behavioral, or developmental problems and/or child maltreatment.

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This study extends the follow-up of a randomized controlled trial (RCT), comparing full-day preschool to half-day preschool, and will provide policymakers and parents the most rigorous evidence to-date on the relative effectiveness of full-day versus half-day preschool in preparing children for elementary school.

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This project will fund longer-term follow-up of a large-scale randomized controlled trial evaluating the impact of the Nurse-Family Partnership’s expansion in South Carolina.

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Michigan’s Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP) is a maternal infant home visiting program, implemented statewide, that promotes healthy pregnancies and infant growth and development with the ultimate goal of reducing infant mortality and morbidity.

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This project will fund a longer-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of early childhood interventions provided through the Chicago Heights Early Childhood Center (CHECC), which were designed to improve children’s academic skills and executive functioning (e.g., working memory, inhibitory control).

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Grant Recipient: University of Pittsburgh 

Term: 2025 – 2029 

Principal Investigator(s): Antoine Douaihy, University of Pittsburgh 

Valentin Bolotnyy, Stanford University 

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of providing financial incentives on medication adherence among individuals with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder and/or co-occurring substance use disorder who are recently discharged from involuntary hospitalization or are at high risk of future hospitalization. 

In this study, 1,000 participants will be randomly assigned to either a treatment group that will receive financial incentives for adhering to long-acting injectable medications or a control group that will receive usual care. The study will measure impacts on medication adherence and involuntary hospitalization over 12 months using administrative data.  

Grant Recipient: Emory University 

Principal Investigator: Rebecca Myerson, Emory University 

Term: 2025 – 2027  

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of an outreach program in Wisconsin designed to avert and remediate loss of Medicaid coverage for procedural reasons among eligible individuals. The program connects beneficiaries with free live help from a Navigator who can address common barriers to successful renewal, including uncertainty about Medicaid eligibility and questions about responding to income or asset verification requests.  

The study will randomize approximately 288,000 eligible individuals to one of three groups: (i) a treatment group that will receive live outreach and assistance, (ii) a treatment group that will receive pre-recorded outreach, or (iii) a control group that will not receive outreach. The study will measure impacts on successfully renewing Medicaid coverage within three months and maintaining continuous coverage over twelve months. 

TCM is a nurse-led hospital discharge and home follow-up program for chronically ill older adults, aimed at preventing health complications and re-hospitalizations and improving patients’ experience with care.

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TCM is a nurse-led hospital discharge and home follow-up program for chronically ill older adults, aimed at preventing health complications and re-hospitalizations and improving patients’ experience with care.

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Grant Recipient: Temple University – Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education 

Principal Investigator: Christine Leow, Temple University  

Term: 2025 – 2027  

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate the Get A Skill, Get A Job, Get Ahead (G3) program for community college students in Virginia. Launched in 2022, G3 provides last dollar scholarship and other supports to community college students enrolled in five high demand fields -- information technology (IT), public safety, health care, skilled trades, and early childhood education. Using a regression discontinuity design based on family income, the study will estimate the program’s impacts on on-time graduation in the G3 high-demand fields and earnings measured one year after graduation. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here. 

Grant Recipient: Regents of the University of California at Irvine 

Principal Investigator: Lena Shi, University of California, Irvine  

Monnica Chan, University of Massachusetts, Boston 

Term: 2025 – 2029 

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate the impact of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on college attainment and economic mobility for students enrolled in Virginia colleges between 2021 and 2023. Nationally, low-income students are less likely to complete college, even when they enter with similar high school grades. Public benefits such as SNAP may help alleviate the financial challenges students face and support students’ persistence and completion. Using a regression discontinuity design based on income, the study will estimate the effects of SNAP participation on on-time college completion and earnings up to six years after initial enrollment.  

Grant Recipient: MDRC 

Principal Investigator: Austin Slaughter, MDRC 

Term: 2024 – 2028 

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Cohort Catalyst program. Cohort Catalyst is a third-party service provider that partners with higher education institutions to assist former students in managing loan repayment and avoiding delinquency and default. Through college-branded outreach, Cohort Catalyst connects borrowers with trained counselors during their grace period to offer personalized advice on repayment options, and provides additional outreach to borrowers already in delinquency or default to help restore their loans to good standing 

This study will randomly assign approximately 10,000 student loan borrowers to either a treatment group that will receive proactive outreach from Cohort Catalyst in addition to access to the program’s inbound call center and online chat options, or a control group that will receive access to the same resources but without proactive outreach from the program. The study will estimate impacts on (i) enrollment in an income-driven repayment plan, (ii) 90-day delinquency, and (iii) student loan default, measured two years after randomization. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here. 

Grant Recipient: The Regents of the University of California, Davis 

Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Friedmann, University of California, Davis 

Term: 2025 – 2029  

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of providing California community college students with information about financial aid eligibility under the Cal-B Grant Program. Recent policy changes introduced additional financial aid for students enrolling in 12 or 15 units each semester, with the goal of encouraging faster progress toward degree completion.  

This study will randomly assign approximately 286,500 eligible students into a treatment group that will receive an enhanced email outlining the total financial aid they are eligible to receive, including bonuses tied to different unit thresholds, or a control group that will receive a standard email about grant eligibility. The study will estimate impacts on college enrollment, persistence, transfer and completion three years after randomization.  

Grant Recipient: Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania 

Term: 2025 – 2026 

Principal Investigator(s): Angela Duckworth, University of Pennsylvania 

Katherine Milkman, University of Pennsylvania 

Summary: This project is a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating ten light-touch, evidence-based interventions designed to address common challenges facing first-year college students. The interventions include near-peer coaching programs, incentives to attend office hours, AI-based coaching, peer-to-peer connections, and incentives to use digital planning tools. Across 15-20 colleges with historically high dropout rates, approximately 165,000 first-year students will be recruited, with about 15,000 students randomly assigned to each study arm (ten experimental conditions and one control condition). The study will measure impacts on second-year re-enrollment and end-of-year GPA using administrative records.  

Grant Recipient: WestEd 

Principal Investigator: Noman Khanani, WestEd 

Laura Lara-Brady, WestEd 

Katie D’Silva, WestEd 

Term: 2026 – 2034 

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of the Puente program in California. Puente currently operates in 67 community colleges in California with the goal of increasing transfer and graduation rates for educationally underserved students. The program provides support across three major components: instruction, counseling, and mentorship.  

This study will randomize approximately 1,600 eligible students from 10 community colleges to a treatment group, that will receive Puente services, or a control group that will receive business-as-usual institutional support. The study will measure the program’s impact on short- and long-term outcomes including credit accumulation, GPA, transfer to a four-year institution, and degree receipt six years after random assignment. 

Grant Recipient: University of California, Irvine 

Term: 2025 – 2027 

Principal Investigator(s): Di Xu, University of California, Irvine,  

XunFei Li, University of California, Irvine 

Loris Fagioli, Irvine Valley College 

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate developmental education reforms enacted by California Assembly Bill (AB) 705. Traditionally, students were placed in developmental education sequences based on their standardized placement exam scores, often leading to placements below their actual skill level and reducing academic momentum. Shifting away from traditional standardized placement tests, AB 705 required community colleges to maximize the likelihood that students are placed into transfer-level English and math courses unless strong evidence suggests otherwise. Using interrupted time series and staggered difference-in-differences designs, the study will measure the short- and long-term impacts of AB 705 on transfer-level course completion in the first year, associate’s degree completion, and transfer to a four-year institution. 

Grant Recipient: University of Chicago 

Term: 2025 – 2028 

Principal Investigator(s): Matteo Magnaricotte, University of Chicago 

Lesley J. Turner, University of Chicago 

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate Hope Chicago, a two-generation college pipeline program that aims to increase college enrollment and completion for students enrolled in five Chicago Public Schools. Hope Chicago provides high school and college advising, funding for college costs, and financial support for parents to pursue postsecondary education. Using a difference-in-differences design, the study will measure the impact of Hope Chicago on college enrollment the year after expected high school graduation and college completion within six years of expected high school graduation. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here. 

Grant Recipient: University of Chicago 

Term: 2024 – 2026 

Principal Investigator(s): Kelly Hallberg, University of Chicago, 

Emileigh Harrison, University of Texas at Austin 

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate the Star Scholarship introduced by the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC). Launched in 2014, the Star Scholarship covers full tuition and fees at any CCC community college for any Chicago Public Schools graduate with a high school GPA of 3.0 or higher. Using a regression discontinuity design based on the GPA cutoff, the study will measure the impact of receiving the Scholarship on college enrollment, associate degree completion, and student debt within three years of high school graduation. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here. 

Grant Recipient: Wayne State University 

Term: 2024 – 2026 

Principal Investigator(s): Stacey Brockman, Wayne State University 

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate the adoption of open educational resources (OER) in Michigan community college courses. OER are public or openly licensed course materials that can be used, adapted, and redistributed at no cost to students or instructors. Using a difference-in-differences design, the study will measure the impact of OER adoption at four community colleges on course performance, course withdrawals, and degree persistence. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here. 

Grant Recipient: University of California, Irvine 

Term: 2024 – 2026 

Principal Investigator(s): Di Xu, University of California, Irvine 

Richard Arum, University of California, Irvine 

Sabrina Solanki, University of California, Irvine 

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate zero-textbook-cost (ZTC) programs within California Community Colleges. Launched in 2016, ZTC programs use open educational resources and alternative instructional material to eliminate conventional textbooks costs. Using a triple difference-in-differences design, the study will measure the impact of ZTC program adoption on academic performance in students’ first and subsequent semesters, academic momentum, and degree attainment. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here. 

Grant Recipient: University of Virginia   

Term: 2025 – 2032 

Principal Investigator(s): Benjamin Castleman, University of Virginia 

Kelli Bird, University of Virginia 

Summary: This project is a long-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate College Possible Texas (formerly College Forward), an intensive college advising program designed to support low-income and first-generation students through the college application process and beyond. Beginning as early as the junior year of high school and continuing through college, College Possible Texas programming provides advising on college entrance exams, selection and applications, financial aid application, college choice, and the summer transition from high school to summer, as well as one-on-one coaching.  

This study builds on a previous study which randomized 1,605 high school students in Texas to either receive an offer of participation in College Possible Texas or not. The study will measure impacts on earnings and employment outcomes ten years after high school graduation.  

Grant Recipient: University of North Carolina at Greensboro 

Principal Investigator: Eric Grebing, University of North Carolina at Greensboro 

Term: 2025 – 2033 

Summary: This project is a long-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of the Rural Early College Network (RECN) in Indiana. The RECN provides targeted early college supports to 9th and 10th grade students in a pathway-within-school model: a structure in which early college opportunities are embedded within traditional high schools without creating a separate school or campus. Students also receive targeted early-college supports, including campus visits, intensive advising, a peer group focused on postsecondary readiness, and guidance connecting college coursework to their post-high school plans. 

This study builds on a previous RCT of RECN in which 1,310 eligible students in 14 Indiana high schools were randomized to either the treatment group, that received an offer to join the early college program, or the control group, that did not receive an offer. The study will measure the impact of the program on the number of college credits earned in high school, postsecondary enrollment at high school graduation, postsecondary/workforce credential attainment, and persistence and degree completion over four years. 

Grant Recipient: President and Fellows of Harvard College 

Principal Investigator: Susan Dynarski, Harvard University 

Elizabeth Burland, University of Connecticut  

Stephanie Owen, Colby College 

Term: 2025 – 2028 

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of the High Achieving Involved Leaders (HAIL) Scholarship program. This program offered an upfront guarantee of four years of free tuition and fees at the University of Michigan (UM) in Ann Arbor to high achieving, rising high school seniors in Michigan from 2015 to 2022.  

In this study, approximately 10,400 students from 689 Michigan high schools were randomly assigned to either a treatment group, that received the offer in the fall of their senior year, or a control group, that did not receive the offer until after students had applied to UM, were admitted, and had completed financial aid forms. This study will measure the program’s impact on enrollment and completion of a bachelor’s degree from a highly selective college within six years of high school graduation. 

Grant Recipient: MDRC 

Principal Investigator: Colleen Sommo, MDRC 

Cynthia Miller, MDRC 

Term: 2026 – 2033 

Summary: This project is a long-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of the Viking ROADS (Resources for Obtaining Associate Degrees and Success) program at Westchester Community College. The program replicates the City University of New York’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (CUNY ASAP) model, offering a comprehensive, integrated package of academic, personal, and financial supports to low-income students.  

This study builds on a previous RCT which randomly assigned 574 Westchester Community College students to either a treatment group eligible for Viking ROADS (288 students) or a control group receiving usual services (286 students). The study will measure the program’s impact on degree receipt and annual earnings six, eight, and ten years after random assignment. The study will also include a meta-analysis of ASAP studies in Ohio, New York City, and Westchester, New York. 

Grant Recipient: University of Chicago 

Principal Investigator: Monica Bhatt, University of Chicago 

Jonathan Guryan, Northwestern University  

Salman Khan, University of Chicago  

Term: 2026 – 2028 

Summary: This project is a long-term follow-up of two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the impact of Saga Education’s high dosage tutoring (HDT) program in Chicago. The HDT program provides eligible high school students with daily in-school math tutoring for 50 minutes per day in a two-to-one student-to-tutor ratio for an entire academic year.  

This study builds on two previous RCTs which randomly assigned approximately 5,300 students across 15 Chicago high schools to a treatment group, which received Saga’s HDT services, or a control group which did not receive the HDT services. The study will evaluate the program’s impact on college enrollment and degree receipt within six years of expected high school graduation. 

This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate a cost-of-living grant for low-income community college students, with the goal of increasing college retention and completion.

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This project is an RCT of OneGoal – a program for low-income high school students aimed at preparing students to enroll and succeed in college.

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This project will extend a well-conducted RCT of Bottom Line – a program that helps low-income students get into and graduate from college – to measure the program’s impacts on employment, earnings, and debt accumulation in the years following college graduation.

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This project will extend a well-conducted RCT of Bottom Line – a program that helps low-income students get into and graduate from college – to measure the program’s impacts on employment, earnings, and debt accumulation in the years following college graduation.

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Under this project, MDRC will extend the follow-up of the existing replication RCT of ASAP (funded in-part by AV) at three community colleges in Ohio.

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This is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an adapted version of the City University of New York (CUNY) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP).

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This project is a randomized control trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of Capital IDEA – a program in Austin, Texas to help low-income adults complete postsecondary education and obtain well-paying jobs.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the InsideTrack coaching and mentoring program for recent college dropouts from California community colleges or California State University.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an intensive coaching program for low income community college students, with the goal of increasing college retention and completion.

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This well-conducted RCT found no statistically significant effects on college persistence or degree completion six years after random assignment.

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This project comprises of two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of providing low- and moderate-income students with information on their federal loan eligibility as part of the students’ financial aid award letters.

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This is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of Federal Work Study (FWS) within the City University of New York (CUNY) system.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Pathways from Prison to Postsecondary Education program, a prison-based correctional education program designed to increase inmates’ likelihood of attaining a postsecondary degree and reduce their likelihood of recidivating after their release.

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This project will support the continuation of an RCT at three Ohio community colleges that are implementing programs based on the ASAP model.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the ASAP program as implemented at Westchester Community College in New York (under a separate grant, LJAF is funding technical assistance for this ASAP implementation).

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Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) is a comprehensive community college program that provides academic, personal, and financial supports to low-income students.

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This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a brief, low-cost intervention designed to improve relationships between college instructors and their students by identifying and highlighting interests and values that they share, with the goal of improving students’ academic achievement.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Bottom Line – a program that provides one-on-one guidance to help low-income, first-generation students get into and graduate from college.

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This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of College Forward —a program that provides individualized coaching from trained AmeriCorps volunteers to help low-income students get into and graduate from college.

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This project is a long-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of North Carolina’s Early College High Schools – a high school educational intervention backed by promising initial evidence of effects on postsecondary degree attainment.

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This grant will fund two projects.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of One Million Degrees (OMD), a program that provides wrap-around financial, academic, professional, and personal supports for low-income community college students in Chicago.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of performance incentives for community college instructors and their students.

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This grant will support the continuation of an ongoing randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Stay the Course, an intervention designed to improve postsecondary persistence and graduation outcomes for low-income community college students through case management and access to emergency cash assistance.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Tacoma Housing Authority’s College Housing Assistance Program (CHAP).

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This project will evaluate the effectiveness of development course referral using Multiple Measures Assessment (MMA) on successful gateway course completion and on degree completion or transfer to a four-year college.

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Grant Recipient: University of Southern California 

Principal Investigator: Jorge De La Roca, University of Southern California 

Term: 2025 – 2027 

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate Los Angeles’ Unpermitted Dwelling Unit (UDU) Ordinance, which pass in 2017 to offer an easier pathway to legalize informal housing units. The policy reduced permitting costs, streamlined compliance and targeted multifamily property owners.  

The study will first estimate the number of UDUs using city administrative data and satellite data. Then, using a difference-in-differences design, the study will estimate effects of the UDU Ordinance on affordable housing preservation as measured by the number of UDU demolitions.

Grant Recipient: Urban Institute 

Term: 2024 – 2026 

Principal Investigator(s): Christina Stacy, Urban Institute 

Daniel Teles, Urban Institute 

Tomi Rajninger, Urban Institute 

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program. LIHTC seeks to expand affordable housing in low-income communities by providing subsidies to private developers who construct and operate housing units with income-restricted rents for at least 15 years.  

The study leverages two discontinuities in the policy that increase tax credits in specific areas: (i) Qualified Census Tracts, where at least 50 percent of households are eligible to rent a LIHTC unit or where the poverty rate is at least 25 percent; and (ii) Difficult Development Areas, where housing construction costs are relatively high based on HUD-determined thresholds. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity design based on these thresholds, the study will measure the impact of receiving LIHTC credits on the number of total housing units, rental units, and affordable rental units across varying geographic boundaries. 

Grant Recipient: RAND Corporation 

Term: 2024 – 2026 

Principal Investigator(s): Jason Ward, RAND  

Susha Roy, RAND  

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate the Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMR) program for housing choice voucher (HCV) recipients. Under the SAFMR program implemented by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2011, voucher payment standards are based on zip code-level rents rather than metropolitan averages. Using a stacked difference-in-differences design, the study will examine the policy’s effects on households' access to high-opportunity neighborhoods, measured by average school quality for HCV recipients and changes in the number of HCV households in neighborhoods with high-quality schools. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here. 

Grant Recipient: Urban Institute 

Principal Investigator: Devlin Hanson, Urban Institute  

Sarah Gillespie, Urban Institute  

Term: 2026 – 2030 

Summary: This project is a long-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of the Denver Supportive Housing Social Impact Bond Initiative (Denver SIB). Denver SIB is a supportive housing program for chronically homeless individuals. In addition to housing, Denver SIB provides comprehensive care from multidisciplinary teams including clinical social workers, case managers, peer specialists, psychiatrists and nurses.  

This study builds on a previous RCT which randomly assigned 1,093 eligible individuals to a treatment group, that was referred to Denver SIB supportive housing providers to receive services, or a control group that continued to receive community services as usual. The study will measure the program’s impact on healthcare utilization and associated Medicaid costs five and ten years after random assignment. 

Grant Recipients: University of Chicago Health Lab 

Principal Investigators: David Meltzer, MD, University of Chicago and Harold Pollack, University of Chicago 

Term: 2021 – 2027

Funding: $2,514,240

Summary: Critical Time Intervention (CTI) is a case-management program designed to prevent homelessness in adults with serious mental illness. When evaluated in two well-conducted randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in New York City, CTI was found to reduce the likelihood of homelessness by more than 60%, 18 months after random assignment, and to produce sizable cost savings in government/community expenditures that nearly (in one RCT) or completely (in the second RCT) offset the program’s cost.

Under this project, the grantee will oversee – in partnership with The Center for the Advancement of Critical Time Intervention at Hunter College, City University of New York (CACTI) – CTI implementation in Chicago, IL. CTI will be delivered to approximately 200 individuals over a three year period.

Additionally, the grantee will conduct a two-site RCT of CTI, which will take place in Chicago, IL, and in a five-county region in Mississippi (in partnership with Madison-Rankin-Simpson Mental Health Commission Region 8). The RCT will determine whether the sizable impacts found in prior RCTs of CTI can be reproduced on a larger scale in diverse settings and implementation conditions.

The study will track homelessness and other outcomes for approximately 700 study participants over a two-year period after random assignment. The study’s primary outcome will be the number of nights spent homeless in a 24-month follow-up period. The study will also measure important secondary outcomes, including rates of psychiatric hospitalizations, criminal justice involvement and mortality. Outcomes will be measured using data from each site’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), Departments of Public Health and County Sheriff’s Offices. 

The study’s pre-specified analysis plan is linked here. The project is also associated with an expansion and replication grant to Madison-Rankin-Simpson Mental Health Commission Region 8 and a technical assistance grant to the Research Foundation of the City University of New York.

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A randomized controlled trial to evaluate a supportive housing program for people experiencing chronic homelessness and high rates of justice involvement and emergency department utilization.

Grant Recipient: Urban Institute

Principal Investigators: Sarah Gillespie, Devlin Hanson

Term: 2022 — 2030

Funding: $355,986

Summary: The Denver Housing to Health (H2H) project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate a supportive housing program for people experiencing chronic homelessness and high rates of justice involvement and emergency department utilization. The Denver H2H program consists of a Housing First approach (i.e., quickly getting people into housing without any preconditions or requirements) as well as intensive wraparound services including modified assertive community treatment (ACT), behavioral health services, links to community resources, transportation assistance and referrals, and assistance navigating the criminal justice system.

The Denver H2H program builds on the success of the Denver Social Impact Bond (SIB) Supportive Housing program, which was evaluated in a well-conducted RCT with a population of individuals experiencing chronic homelessness with multiple prior arrests. The Denver SIB study found that, over the three year period after random assignment, the program significantly reduced (i) the use of jails by 28% (from 138 jail days in the control group to 100 jail days in the treatment group); (ii) the use of shelters by 35% (from 269 shelter days in the control group to 174 shelter days in the treatment group); and (iii) the number of emergency department visits (from 15.2 visits in the control group to 9.2 visits in the treatment group). A cost analysis found that the annual reduction in the use of these and other public services amounted to roughly half of the annual cost of the program (estimated at $12,000 — $15,500 per person per year) and that the savings were greater for individuals with more emergency department visits prior to randomization. 

Through the Denver H2H evaluation, the researchers seek to evaluate the effectiveness of supportive housing with a more targeted population of individuals experiencing chronic homelessness with multiple prior arrests and multiple prior emergency department visits to determine whether a greater share of the program’s cost can be offset by savings among this population. The researchers will randomly assign 440 such individuals to either (i) receive supportive housing through the program or (ii) a control group that will receive usual care. The primary outcomes of interest are: (i) total healthcare costs, as measured by the total amount of claims billed to Medicaid and (ii) healthcare costs paid by the federal Medicaid program, as measured by the total amount actually paid by Medicaid. Other secondary outcomes of interest include housing stability, shelter use, police contacts and arrests, jail stays, and use of short-term detoxification or sobering services. All outcomes will be measured using administrative data through five years after random assignment.

The study’s pre-specified analysis plan is linked here.

Grant Recipient: The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia 

Term: 2024 – 2028 

Principal Investigator(s): Angeline Lillard, University of Virginia 

This project is a long-term follow-up of a multi-site randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the Public Montessori Preschool model, an educational approach that emphasizes hands-on learning for children from birth to kindergarten. Montessori is the most widely implemented alternative educational system globally, with more than 550 public schools using the model in the United States.  

The original study included 24 Montessori Public Schools across 13 cities that used lottery admissions to determine which children aged three were offered a seat in a Montessori preschool or placed on a waitlist. This project will extend follow-up through the end of kindergarten and grade 3, measuring impacts on student achievement outcomes using standardized assessments in math and English Language Arts. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here. 

Grant Recipient: Johns Hopkins University 

Principal Investigator: Amanda J. Neitzel, Johns Hopkins University 

Term: 2024 – 2028  

Summary: This project is an extension and expansion of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate Air Reading, an assessment-driven virtual tutoring program designed to improve students’ foundational reading skills in kindergarten through eighth grade. Students receive live virtual instruction from consistent Air Reading tutors throughout the semester, addressing individual reading gaps. Students participate in 40-minute sessions four times per week in groups of up to four.   

Across three years, approximately 1,200 students identified as performing below grade level in reading on the school-administered literacy assessments will be randomly assigned to either the Air Reading tutoring group or a business-as-usual control group. The study will measure impacts on reading achievement using standardized test scores over two years.  

Grant Recipient: University of Chicago 

Principal Investigator: Jesse Bruhn, Brown University  

Christopher Campos, University of Chicago  

Eric Chyn, University of Texas at Austin  

Antonia Vazquez, University of Texas at Austin 

Term: 2025 – 2027  

Summary: This project leverages admissions lotteries to evaluate the impact of admission to a magnet school in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Magnet programs offer students and families additional school choice options within the public school system in the United States. These programs are designed to provide access to diverse, specialized curricula and may create opportunities for students to learn in different educational settings. 

This study will leverage administrative data for over 150,000 students who applied to LAUSD magnet schools via lotteries between 2001 and 2024. Applicants who received an offer of admission will form the treatment group and those who did receive an offer will form the control group. The study will measure the impact of magnet school admission on cognitive ability using state standardized test scores, as well as other self-reported outcomes such as conscientiousness, persistence, grit, and self-regulation. 

Grant Recipient: The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University 

Term: 2024 – 2028  

Principal Investigator(s): Susanna Loeb, Stanford University 

Carly Robinson, Stanford University 

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of MathCorps, an AmeriCorps tutoring program designed to strengthen foundational math skills, among early elementary students. MathCorps provides 20 minutes of daily, targeted math tutoring to pairs of students, five days per week.  

In this study, approximately 720 students in grades K–3 in at least 15 schools in Minnesota and Georgia will be randomly assigned to either receive MathCorps tutoring or continue with regular school instruction. The study will measure impacts on students’ math achievement using standardized assessments at the end of the school year. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here. 

Grant Recipient: University of Chicago 

Term: 2025 – 2028  

Principal Investigator(s): Ariel Kalil, University of Chicago 

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate Show Up to Grow Up (SUGU), a light-touch, text-based intervention designed to encourage preschool and kindergarten attendance. In partnership with Oklahoma City Public Schools, parents will receive three messages per week providing information about the benefits of regular school attendance.  

In this study, 2,400 parents from preschool and kindergarten will be randomly assigned to either receive SUGU text messages throughout the school year or receive no text messages. The study will measure impacts on attendance and chronic absenteeism at the end of the school year. 

Grant Recipient: Stanford University  

Term: 2025 – 2027 

Principal Investigator(s): Susanna Loeb, Stanford University 

Carly Robinson, Stanford University 

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate Hoot Reading, a teacher-led virtual tutoring program designed to strengthen early literacy skills among elementary school students. As part of the district’s Multi-Tiered System of Supports model, students at risk of reading below grade level in Kansas City Public Schools (KCPS) will receive thirty minutes of one-on-one virtual tutoring during the school day at least three times a week throughout the school year. 

In this study, approximately 1,700 students in grades 1–4 who scored at least one grade level below benchmark on the district’s beginning-of-year literacy assessment will be assigned to either the Hoot Reading tutoring group or a business-as-usual control group. The study will measure the impact on student literacy using standardized reading assessments administered at the end of the school year. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here. 

This project will fund an RCT of Check and Connect, a dropout prevention program for high school students with learning, emotional, or behavioral disabilities.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a training and coaching program to support math teachers to use Khan Academy, which is being implemented on a large scale in Puerto Rico.

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This project is an RCT to evaluate (1) New Mexico’s oversubscribed “Dual Language Immersion” (DLI) elementary charter schools; (2) the state’s oversubscribed elementary charter schools as a whole; and (3) the state’s oversubscribed high school charter schools.

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KIPP is a national non-profit network of college-preparatory, public charter schools that serve thousands of predominantly low-income and minority students.

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This project will extend a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT), launched through a $7.9 million grant from the EIR Program, to evaluate the ASSISTments platform using a virtual teacher training model.

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As background, schools with a high proportion of students from poor families struggle to turn around low academic performance, as evidenced by the mixed success of reform efforts, summer school, and parent programs.

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Over the course of three years, the project will evaluate a system-wide approach to ensuring that all disadvantaged children enrolled in Baltimore City Public Schools in grades 3 to 8 are screened for vision problems, and given free eyeglasses if needed.

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This project will rigorously evaluate a school wide vision care intervention designed to increase eyeglass receipt, retention, and use among children in grades K‑5 in disadvantaged Chicago Public Schools, with the goal of improving their vision and (as a result) their school achievement.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Bernie’s Book Bank, which provides free high-quality books to low-income children on a large scale and at low cost throughout the Chicago area (serving approximately 250,000 students annually at approximately 50 cents per book).

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This project will expand and extend a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT), launched through a $3.3 million grant from IES, to evaluate ASSISTments – an online homework support tool for 7th graders designed to improve math achievement.

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This project is a low-cost randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in New York City high schools.

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This project is a large, multi-site randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Career Academies in California that are receiving technical assistance under a separate grant from our foundation to ensure faithful implementation of the Career Academy model.

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This project is an extension of an existing RCT evaluation of CORE Knowledge Charter Schools in Denver, Colorado.

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This is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Child Advocates of Indianapolis’ Educational Liaison (EL) intervention model, a dropout prevention program for middle and secondary school students in the foster care system.

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This is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Fostering Opportunities, a program that provides 7th-10th grade youth in foster care with an advocate who coordinates between teachers, families, social workers and other systems involved in foster youths’ lives to help the youths succeed in school.

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This is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate a high-dosage math tutoring program for 9th graders in high poverty high schools.

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This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Healthy Minds – a growth mindset intervention for high school students designed to reduce rates of clinical depression. Healthy Minds is delivered via a web-based platform making it cost-effective and scalable.

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This project will extend an LJAF-funded pilot RCT of a high-dosage literacy tutoring program for 1st graders delivered by SAGA Innovations in low-income Chicago schools.

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This grant will fund the long-term follow-up of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of KIPP charter middle schools.

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This project is a low-cost randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Minnesota Math Corps, a one-on-two tutoring program for 4th-8th graders struggling with math.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a school-wide reform initiative, Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (MTSS), designed to increase academic achievement and reduce behavioral problems at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

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This project is a replication randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a promising music education intervention for economically disadvantaged elementary school students, inspired by the “El Sistema” program in Venezuela.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Literacy First (formerly ACE Tutoring), an intensive one-on-one tutoring program for struggling readers in early elementary school.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a “social belonging intervention” consisting of two 15-minute in-class writing exercises provided to students entering middle school – i.e., fall of 7th grade – a time of transition to a larger, less personal school environment that many perceive as intimidating.

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This is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Working on Womanhood (WOW), a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) program for disadvantaged female high school students at high risk of mental illness.

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This project will supplement a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Reading Partners, a one-on-one reading tutoring program for elementary school students in systemically disadvantaged communities.

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This is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Books for Ownership (BFO), a nationally-disseminated program administered by Reading Is Fundamental designed to engage elementary school students in both summer and school-year reading.

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This project is an evaluation of an online math tutoring program for upper grade elementary school students performing below grade level, aimed at improving math achievement.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of Tutored by Teachers, an online tutoring program for elementary school students.

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Grant Recipient: University of Massachusetts Amherst 

Principal Investigator: Christopher Boone, University of Massachusetts Amherst  

Ethan Kaplan, University of Maryland 

Term: 2026 – 2028 

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate the impact of the earned income tax credit (EITC) on employment and wages. The EITC is a refundable tax credit aimed at reducing poverty and promoting labor force participation. The study will combine difference-in-differences with a geographic discontinuity design, leveraging variation in EITC generosity across states, to estimate effects on individual-level employment and wages two years after policy adoption.

Grant Recipient: George Washington University  

Principal Investigator: Elira Kuka, George Washington University  

Term: 2025 – 2026  

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an unemployment insurance (UI) application assistance intervention in Pennsylvania. The study will test two different interventions. In the first intervention, participants will receive a text message and an email that directs them to a website that provides user-friendly information about the dollar value of UI benefits and how to apply for them. The second intervention will provide the same information along with assistance in accessing UI benefits from Philadelphia Legal Assistance (PLA) staff which includes caseworkers, paralegals and lawyers. 

The study will randomly assign 3,000 individuals to one of three groups: (i) an information-only treatment group (1,250 individuals); (ii) an information-plus-assistance treatment group (500 individuals); and (3) a control group which will receive neither information nor assistance from PLA (1,250 individuals). The study will measure impacts on receiving UI benefits and the total dollar amount of benefits received at 6- and 12-months following randomization. 

Grant Recipient: Boston University 

Term: 2025 – 2027 

Principal Investigator(s): Justin White, Boston University 

Zachary Parolin, University of Oxford 

Rita Hamad, Harvard University 

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate the impact of state Child Tax Credit (CTC) policies rolled out between 2006 and 2024. CTC policies provide income support through either refundable or nonrefundable tax credits to families with children and vary in generosity and eligibility across states. Using a staggered difference-in differences design, the study will leverage state-level variation in CTC policies to estimate the policy’s impacts on employment and work intensity as measured by the number of hours worked. 

Grant Recipient: University of Michigan 

Term: 2025 – 2026 

Principal Investigator(s): Nirupama Rao, University of Michigan 

Elena Patel, Brookings Institution 

Naomi Feldman, Hebrew University of Jerusalem 

Laura Kawano, University of Michigan 

Shanthi Ramnath, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago 

Summary: This project is a quasi-experimental study to evaluate the federal Historic Tax Credit (HTC). The HTC subsidizes private preservation and rehabilitation of historical buildings with the goal of revitalizing neighborhoods. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts of 2017 reduced the value of the HTC by reducing tax credits over a five-year schedule and removing eligibility for buildings built before 1936. Using multiple methods (regression discontinuity design based on the date of building construction, difference-in-differences, and bunching techniques), the study will measure the impact of changes in HTC generosity and eligibility on building transaction prices.

This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effect of receiving federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) on mortality among older adults.

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Grant Recipient: University of Chicago 

Term: 2025 – 2027 

Principal Investigator(s): Michael Greenstone, University of Chicago 

Rajat Kochhar, University of Chicago 

Jesse Buchsbaum, Resources for the Future 

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate whether low-cost informational interventions can improve household water conservation. In partnership with the City of Westminster, Colorado, the study will test whether providing households with real-time information on their water consumption and pricing reduces water use and lowers household water bills. 

In this study, approximately 18,900 households will be randomly assigned to one of four groups: (i) scheduled water consumption information only; (ii) scheduled water consumption and price information; (iii) real-time water consumption and price information; and (iv) a control group that receives no information. The study will measure impacts on household water consumption and on the accuracy of households’ perceptions of their water use and pricing one year after randomization. 

The study’s pre-analysis plan is linked here. 

Grant Recipient: National Center for Civic Innovation Inc 

Principal Investigator: Peter Bergman, University of Texas at Austin  

Jonathan Colmer, University of Virginia 

Ian Hardman, University of California, Berkeley 

Term: 2025 – 2026 

Summary: This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of an intervention providing neighborhood-level economic and environmental information during housing searches on AffordableHousing.com. The intervention will embed information about economic mobility and air quality directly on the website’s rental listings.  

The study will randomly assign approximately 60,000 AffordableHousing.com users into one of three groups: (i) a treatment group receiving economic mobility information, (ii) a treatment group receiving air quality information, or (iii) a control group receiving no additional information. The study will measure the impact of the intervention on economic mobility and environmental scores of the neighborhood where individuals live twelve months after randomization. 

This is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) designed to help the City of Fresno, California identify the most effective outdoor water restriction enforcement strategy to maximize water conservation while minimizing public complaints.

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This project was a large, multi-site RCT of workplace health and safety inspections conducted by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

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This is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a peer navigator program for emergency department (ED) patients presenting with an opioid overdose in Rhode Island, which has had one of the highest rates of overdose mortality in the nation.

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This project is a replication and extension trial of PROmoting School-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience (PROSPER), a program-delivery system through which land grant universities partner with community teams to implement evidence-based programs for preventing youth substance misuse and other problem behaviors.

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The project is a study to determine whether the positive, long-term impacts on youth substance use found in a prior well-conducted randomized controlled trial (RCT) translate into reductions in youth Medicaid utilization and costs.

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This project is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate LifeSkills Training (LST) – a middle school substance use prevention program – that has been found in two prior well-conducted RCTs to produce 10 – 30% reductions in rates of youth smoking, drunkenness, and marijuana use five to six years after random assignment, with one study also finding suggestive evidence of sizable reductions in prescription drug (e.g., opioid) misuse.

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This project will evaluate whether LifeSkills Training (LST), a substance use prevention program for middle school students that has been shown in rigorous evaluations to substantially reduce youth substance use, can produce similar impacts when provided directly to high school students in a more abbreviated and potentially more scalable format.

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