MPES Welcomes Marcus Casey

Please join MPES for a colloquium talk:

“Academic Probation, Student Performance and Strategic Course Taking

Marcus Casey
Assistant Professor of Economics
University of Illinois at Chicago

Wednesday, November 29th
3:45-5pm
Annenberg 303

Watch the livestream or recording here!

We use a regression discontinuity design to study how academic probation affects outcomes and course- taking behaviors at a large public university in the US. Consistent with past work, students placed on probation improve their GPA in the subsequent semester. We document that part of this GPA improvement is attributable to strategic course-taking, and there is significant heterogeneity in these behaviors across race. Non-minority students placed on probation attempt fewer credits, easier courses, and are more likely to withdraw from courses in the following term. In contrast, underrepresented minorities exhibit few of these behaviors, consistent with past work that suggests black and Hispanic students are less likely to possess helpful institutional knowledge and use available support systems such as academic counseling.