PSEO: Are Your Tax Dollars Really Paying Off ?

The Minnesota Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program allows high school students to take courses at the college level and receive both high school and transferable college credit. Qualified juniors and seniors are allowed to take up to a full load of college courses, and if successfully completed, will earn college credits. PSEO is a state funded program, allocating $2,154 per student in 2004. This research analyzed whether the PSEO student gains from the use of the education policy. Three potential gains were assessed by utilizing an independent sample t-test to determine if PSEO students at a liberal arts college graduated earlier, had higher GPAs, and higher ACT scores. Preliminary results found students who have participated in the PSEO program are, in fact, graduating college before their peers; thus proving it beneficial for students to utilize the program. This article is available in Undergraduate Economic Review: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/uer/vol3/iss1/3 Undergraduate Economic Review A publication of Illinois Wesleyan University Vol. III – 2006 2007 Title “PSEO: Are Your Tax Dollars Really Paying Off?” Author Erin McQuillan Affiliation College of St. Scholastica Abstract The Minnesota Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program allows high school students to take courses at the college level and receive both high school and transferable college credit. Qualified juniors and seniors are allowed to take up to a full load of college courses, and if successfully completed, will earn college credits. PSEO is a state funded program, allocating $2,154 per student in 2004. This research analyzed whether the PSEO student gains from the use of the education policy. Three potential gains were assessed by utilizing an independent sample t-test to determine if PSEO students at a liberal arts college graduated earlier, had higher GPAs, and higher ACT scores. Preliminary results found students who have participated in the PSEO program are, in fact, graduating college before their peers; thus proving it beneficial for students to utilize the program. 1 McQuillan: PSEO: Are Your Tax Dollars Really Paying Off? Published by Digital Commons @ IWU, 2007 Introduction Before 1985, the traditional completion of a college education consisted of taking four years of classes in a post-secondary institution. However, recent trends in secondary education are changing the completion of the four year degree. In the fall of 1985 Minnesota legislators implemented the Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program as a way to offer a challenge to students looking for variety in course selection and more rigorous course work than a regular high school curriculum. The program offered qualified high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to attend college courses while earning both necessary high school credits and transferable college credits. This research looks at the economic impacts of the PSEO program for the students rather than the institutions. The purpose of this paper was to determine if the students were obtaining the full benefits the program has to offer. With $19 million being spent on the 8,819 students utilizing the program in 2004, it is important to assess if students are actually receiving the benefits that PSEO has to offer. Minnesota state legislators have proposed that students who utilize the PSEO program will potentially graduate college with a four year degree in fewer than four years, save money on college tuition costs and get a head start over their non-PSEO peers.