MDRC's The Higher Education Randomized Controlled Trials Restricted Access File (THE-RCT RAF), United States, 2003-2024

The Higher Education Randomized Controlled Trial (THE-RCT) study aims to capitalize on existing data from postsecondary education RCTs to foster substantive and methodological scholarship and encourage teaching and learning opportunities. The cornerstone of THE-RCT is a restricted access file (RAF). The initial version contains individual-participant data from more than 25 of MDRC's higher education RCTs covering 50 institutions and over 50,000 students. The data were originally collected as part of different randomized controlled trial evaluations of a variety of higher education interventions. The data were collected for different student samples, at different times, and in different locations for each study.

The data were collected from four data sources: 1. Baseline: Baseline student demographic data (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, age, etc.) were gathered, either via a survey administered to students upon joining the study (but prior to random assignment) or from study colleges' administrative records; 2. College Transcript: Student transcript data (e.g., enrollment, credits attempted, credits earned, GPA) were provided by the study colleges or state higher education agencies; 3. College Credential Attainment: Student credential attainment data were provided by the study colleges or state higher education agencies; 4. National Student Clearinghouse: Student enrollment and credential attainment data were provided by the National Student Clearinghouse via their StudentTracker database. This includes enrollment and credential attainment data at colleges beyond the colleges where the study took place.

The RAF contains student-level data, including baseline demographics (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity), outcomes (e.g., enrollment, credits earned, credentials), an indicator of experimental group (e.g., program or control group), and study variables (e.g., a variable that allows users to link to the RCT-level database).

高等教育随机对照试验（Higher Education Randomized Controlled Trial，简称THE-RCT）旨在依托现有高等教育领域随机对照试验（Randomized Controlled Trial，简称RCT）数据，推动实质性与方法论层面的学术研究，并助力教学与学习实践发展。THE-RCT的核心基石为受限访问文件（Restricted Access File，简称RAF）。其初始版本包含来自MDRC（Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation）开展的25项以上高等教育随机对照试验的个体参与者数据，覆盖50所院校与5万余名学生。该批数据最初是针对各类高等教育干预措施开展的多组随机对照试验评估的组成部分，各项研究均针对差异化的学生样本、在不同时段与不同地点完成数据采集。
本次数据集的采集源自四类数据源：1. 基线数据：学生基线人口统计学数据（如性别、种族/族裔、年龄等）的采集途径分为两种，一是在学生加入研究时（但需早于随机分组前）通过问卷调查获取，二是从参与研究院校的行政记录中调取；2. 大学成绩单数据：学生成绩单数据（如入学状态、修读学分、已获学分、平均学分绩点（Grade Point Average，简称GPA））由参与研究的院校或州级高等教育机构提供；3. 高校学历获取数据：学生学历获取情况数据由参与研究的院校或州级高等教育机构提供；4. 全国学生清算所（National Student Clearinghouse）数据：学生入学与学历获取情况数据由全国学生清算所通过其StudentTracker数据库提供，该类数据涵盖研究开展院校以外的其他院校的学生入学与学历获取情况。
该受限访问文件包含学生层级数据，具体包括基线人口统计学信息（如性别、种族/族裔）、结局指标（如入学状态、已获学分、学历资质）、实验组标识（如干预组或对照组）以及研究变量（如可供用户关联至随机对照试验层级数据库的变量）。