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  3. American Economic Review
  4. May 2015
  5. An A for Effort

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

An A for Effort

  • Omari H. Swinton
American Economic Review
vol. 105, no. 5, May 2015
(pp. 616–20)
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Abstract

This paper uses a unique and rich administrative data set to analyze the impact of the introduction of a new grading policy on graduations rates at Benedict College, a Historically Black College in Columbia, South Carolina. According to the new grading policy, grades for underclassmen are determined in part by performance on tests and in part by measures of "effort" such as attendance and class participation. This paper finds that while graduates graduate at a faster rate under the policy, there is no significant difference between graduation rates before and after the policy was implemented.

Citation

Swinton, Omari H. 2015. "An A for Effort." American Economic Review, 105 (5): 616–20. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20151116

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I23 Higher Education; Research Institutions
  • I28 Education: Government Policy
  • J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination