This study evaluates a comprehensive university access program that provides financial,
academic and social support to low socioeconomic students using a natural experiment
which exploits the time variation in the expansion of the program across high schools.
Overall, we find positive treatment effects on first year exam performance, dropout rates, and
final graduation outcomes. We find similar results for access students entering through the
standard admissions system and those entering with grade concessions. This suggests that …

There is a well established socioeconomic gradient in educational attainment, despite much
effort in recent decades to address this inequality. This study evaluates a university access
program that provides financial, academic and social support to low socioeconomic status
(SES) students using a natural experiment which exploits the time variation in the expansion
of the program across schools. The program has parallels with US affirmative actions
programs, although preferential treatment is based on SES rather than ethnicity. Evaluating …