Exploring Potential Federal Policies to Improve College Match

A small body of research has examined strategies to increase college enrollment rates, which would improve the percentage of students who match with any institution of higher education. These strategies include allowing students to submit standardized test scores to an additional college free of charge, assistance completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), text message reminders of importance deadlines, near peer counseling, and supplemental guidance counseling. All of these strategies are relatively inexpensive, making them potential private-sector or institutional-level approaches to mitigating undermatch. In this article, the author discusses each mechanism through which the federal government can potentially improve college match, focusing on current policies and practices as well as what else could be done to potentially influence college match. He, then, addresses some of the concerns and limitations of possible federal policies before concluding with recommendations for policymakers.