Nudging at Scale: Experimental Evidence from FAFSA Completion Campaigns

Researchers conducted two randomized controlled trials to assess the impact of national and state-level campaigns encouraging students to apply for financial aid. The campaigns reached over 800,000 students and tested various message strategies, including different framing, delivery methods, and the inclusion of one-on-one advising.

Key findings include:

• The campaigns did not result in increased FAFSA completion or college enrollment rates, regardless of the message content or delivery method.
• Nudge interventions, which are effective at the local level, may not maintain their efficacy when scaled to a national level.

These results highlight the complexities of applying behavioral interventions on a large scale and suggest that strategies effective in smaller settings may need to be adapted to achieve success nationally.