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（Higher Education Randomized Controlled Trial，THE-RCT）旨在依托现有高等教育随机对照试验的相关数据，推动实质性与方法论层面的学术研究，并助力教学与学习相关实践的发展。THE-RCT的核心基石为受限访问文件（Restricted Access File，RAF）。其初始版本包含来自MDRC旗下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所院校及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项随机对照试验评估的组成部分，各项研究针对不同的学生样本、在不同时间与地点完成数据采集。数据来源于四类渠道：
1. 基线数据：研究人员通过学生入组时（随机分组前）填写的调研问卷，或从参与院校的行政记录中采集学生的基线人口统计学数据，例如性别、种族/族裔、年龄等；
2. 大学成绩单数据：由参与院校或州高等教育机构提供学生的成绩单数据，包括入学状态、修读学分、已获学分、平均学分绩点（Grade Point Average，GPA）等；
3. 学历资格获取情况：由参与院校或州高等教育机构提供学生的学历资格获取数据；
4. 全国学生清算所（National Student Clearinghouse）：通过其StudentTracker数据库，该机构提供学生的入学状态与学历资格获取数据，涵盖研究参与院校以外的其他院校的相关信息。

该受限访问文件包含学生层面的各类数据，具体包括基线人口统计学特征（如性别、种族/族裔）、结局指标（如入学状态、已获学分、学历资格）、实验组分组标识（如干预组或对照组）以及研究变量（例如可供用户关联至试验层面数据库的变量）。