Evaluating the Impact of the UCD New ERA Widening Participation Initiative 

The Centre for Human Development and Public Policy is involved in a quantitative evaluation of the UCD New ERA Widening Participation Initiative. The primary aim of New ERA is to promote and support the participation of students from lower socio-economic groups who, in general, are under-represented in higher education. The access programme provides secondary-level students from designated disadvantaged schools with supported entry mechanisms to study at University College Dublin and financial support for the duration of their university life, in addition to a host of support services both before and after they join UCD. [References]

The CHDPP will evaluate the effectiveness of the New ERA programme across three domains        1) increased access from disadvantaged schools, 2) retention rates, and 3) overall exam performance.  The specific aims of this study are: 

• To quantify the effect of a designated disadvantaged school joining the New ERA access programme on the participation of its students in third-level education
• To examine whether the exam performance and drop-out rates of students in the New ERA programme differ from other UCD students
• To determine if there are any peer effects: whether New ERA students are affected by the composition of their class, both in terms of general socio-economic background and the presence of other New ERA students
• Finally, amongst New Era students, we aim to distinguish between those who entered UCD on a lower points threshold than the designated CAO criteria and those who did not