MDRC's The Higher Education Randomized Controlled Trials Restricted Access File (THE-RCT RAF), United States, 2003-2019

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（THE-RCT）研究旨在充分利用来自高等教育随机对照试验的现有数据，以促进实质性和方法论研究，并鼓励教学与学习机会。THE-RCT的基石为受限访问文件（RAF）。该初始版本包含来自MDRC超过25项高等教育RCT的个体参与者数据，涉及50所机构及超过50,000名学生。这些数据原本作为不同高等教育干预措施随机对照试验评估的一部分进行收集。数据针对不同的学生群体，在各个研究的时间、地点进行收集。数据来源于四个数据源：1. 基线：收集了基线学生人口统计数据（例如，性别、种族/民族、年龄等），这些数据通过在学生加入研究（但在随机分配之前）进行的调查或从研究院校的行政记录中获取；2. 学院成绩单：学生成绩单数据（例如，注册、尝试学分、获得学分、GPA）由研究院校或州高等教育机构提供；3. 学院证书获得：学生证书获得数据由研究院校或州高等教育机构提供；4. 国家学生数据中心：国家学生数据中心通过其学生追踪数据库提供学生注册和证书获得数据。这包括在研究发生院校之外的其他院校的注册和证书获得数据。RAF包含学生级别数据，包括基线人口统计信息（例如，性别、种族/民族）、结果（例如，注册、获得学分、证书）、实验组指标（例如，项目或对照组）以及研究变量（例如，允许用户链接到RCT级别数据库的变量）。