Impact of High-Impact Practices on College Completion among Low-Income Students: Making Causal Inferences Using Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting

Low-income students are much less likely to graduate from college than students with higher financial capital; meanwhile, many higher education institutions have adopted High-Impact Practices (HIPs) to enhance their students’ learning experience. Despite the prevalence of HIPs, researchers still do not know whether individual HIPs are impactful for low-income students. This study examines the impacts of individual HIPs on graduation and aspiration for graduation for this population using the Washington State Achievers Longitudinal Surveys. With the strengths of longitudinal data and inverse propensity treatment weighting, this study makes causal inferences about the relationship between college graduation and HIPs. Findings indicate that (1) community service and internships have a significant impact on graduation and (2) working with faculty and leadership has a significant impact on aspiration for graduation. The results suggest tailored approaches could improve graduation outcomes for low-income students. Future research should explore how specific HIPs can be optimized to support this vulnerable and underserved student group.