Money Well Spent? The Cost-Effectiveness of a Texting Intervention Targeting College Persistence

Past studies of texting interventions designed to promote college student persistence have given little attention to assessing both the fixed and variable costs of such initiatives. In addition, they typically have not assessed costs relative to the desired outcome(s). In this case study, we assessed the costs of implementing a text messaging program relative to persistence outcomes using a randomized field experiment in one college. The intervention's cost per student was $18.76 and the cost per text was $0.85 per student. Mean cost-effectiveness ratios per student retained ranged from $1,312 to $750. Sensitivity analyses revealed increases in the number of students texted or gains in academic advisors' efficiencies both contributed to sizable declines in the cost-effectiveness ratios. We conclude the texting intervention was cost-effective relative to other published interventions that have targeted college persistence.