The Impact of Participation in Learning Communities on Academic Performance at a Regional Public University

Abstract

We test whether students' participation in Learning Communities leads to better academic performance while controlling for their demographic characteristics, prior academic record, economic, and behavioral characteristics. Using instrumental variables to account for self-selection, we find evidence that, ceteris paribus, the academic performance of newly entering freshmen at a regional public university in the upper Midwest improves when they participate in Learning Communities. In addition, we find that the impact of participating in Learning Communities is underestimated when not accounting for self-selection. Moreover, we find evidence that student-athletes at a Division II institution perform better academically than non-athletes, ceteris paribus. We are not aware of other studies of the academic performance of athletes at Division II schools. (I21, I23)