Colorado Mountain College’s Central Services located in Glenwood Springs, CO is requesting quotes from qualified firms and/or individuals to assist CMC in evaluating the impact of income sharing agreements agreement among Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students.
SPECIFICATIONS
In 2017-18, CMC became the first institution in the nation to offer Income Sharing Agreement financial aid assistance to undocumented students. The program, Fund Sueños (see: https://coloradomtn.edu/suenos/), has been lauded as a noteworthy contribution to the ongoing policy questions concerning the education of “DREAMers” in U.S. colleges and universities. In spite of the program’s successes, it remains largely unstudied.
In 2019-20, initial qualitative research on Fund Sueños program participants was conducted. At the time, very few Fund Sueños students had graduated from college; and, the pandemic thwarted the post-graduation employment opportunities of even the most well-prepared students. As the college
approaches its fourth year operating the Fund Sueños program, it would like to evaluate the impact and implications of this type of financial aid program. To that end, CMC is soliciting proposals from qualified research organizations or faculty at colleges and universities to perform a quantitatively focused evaluation of the Fund Sueños program. Research questions for the project include the following:
- To what extent did access to Fund Sueños financial aid explain differences in academic progression and completion, if at all?
- Did Fund Sueños students behave comparably to other similar students, either by academic program, age, ethnicity, or socio-economic status, who accepted student load debt? Are there any noteworthy differences between these groups regarding progression, graduation, or post-secondary outcomes, including ability to manage monthly payments?
- Based on the outcomes of the forgoing analysis, how well does the structure of the Fund Sueños program fit the realities of graduates from the college? Are there any discernable positive or negative impacts of the program’s structure as is concerns post-graduate outcomes?
TIMELINE
August 2021 – January 2022, estimated.
