The Causal Impact of Dean's List Recognition on Academic Performance: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design

TL;DR

This paper investigates whether Dean's List recognition causally influences future academic performance using a regression discontinuity design, finding limited effects on long-term outcomes but some short-term impacts for specific student groups.

Contribution

It provides causal evidence on the impact of Dean's List recognition on subsequent academic performance, using a rigorous regression discontinuity approach.

Findings

Positive impact on future Dean's List probability for certain students

No significant effect on GPA, credits, dropout, or graduation rates

Dean's List may not strongly motivate long-term academic improvement

Abstract

This study examines the causal impact of being placed on the Dean's List, a positive education incentive, on future student performance using a regression discontinuity design. The results suggest that for students with low prior academic performance and who are native English speakers, there is a positive impact of being on the Dean's List on the probability of getting onto the Dean's List in the following year. However, being on the Dean's List does not appear to have a statistically significant effect on subsequent GPA, total credits taken, dropout rates, or the probability of graduating within four years. These findings suggest that a place on the Dean's List may not be a strong motivator for students to improve their academic performance and achieve better outcomes.