Researcher Ben Castleman and colleague Lindsay Page (University of Pittsburgh) partnered with Boston-based college affordability non-profit uAspire to design a text messaging campaign to encourage college freshman to renew their financial aid. This text campaign increased the share of community college freshmen who persisted through their sophomore year in college by almost 25 percent.]
Millions of Americans remain chronically unemployed. Nudge4 affiliate Andrew Barr and researcher Ben Castleman are leveraging data science strategies and behaviorally-informed communication to provide displaced workers with prompts and personalized information to help them locate work and/or training opportunities in their communities that are well-matched to their prior work experience.
Our partnership with the US Army Office of Economic and Manpower Analysis (OEMA) investigates educational decisions and experiences of personnel and their dependents, generating valuable evidence to inform pressing questions among policy makers and the general public about their educational choices.
In partnership with the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, our researchers designed a text messaging campaign to encourage high school and college students to apply for financial aid and engage with academic support resources on campus. The program has since been expanded to serve any West Virginia student considering entering a two- or four-year college or career and technical program.
In partnership with Arlington Public Schools in Virginia, our team is developing innovative communication strategies to encourage summer reading among elementary school students. This project connects with students via district-provided iPads, and communicates encouragement, advice, and reminders to students to engage in meaningful reading during the summer months.