Do Higher Education Interventions Pay for Themselves (from the College Perspective)? Evidence from 19 Interventions and 857 Community Colleges

Abstract Community college graduation rates remain low, despite the existence of interventions shown to improve student outcomes. Adoption of these interventions has been limited, in part due to concerns about financial sustainability. This study estimates the extent to which such interventions “pay for themselves” from the college’s perspective—that is, whether the tuition revenue and state funding they generate offset their implementation costs. Using cost and impact estimates from 19 rigorously evaluated interventions, we simulate implementation at 857 community colleges across 41 states and systems. On average, these interventions cost around $2,100 per student and generate $200 of revenue per student, leaving the college with a gap of around $1,900 per student to cover. Under more optimistic assumptions, these interventions generate $500 of revenue per student, leaving a gap of $1,600 per student. There is, however, variation across interventions, with one low-cost intervention recouping almost all its costs on average. There is also variation across colleges, driven primarily by differences in state funding models. These findings highlight the need to identify interventions that are both effective and financially sustainable—and to expand public and philanthropic investment if proven strategies are to be adopted at scale.