Between 2013 and 2016, IDinsight partnered with Kepler to evaluate the impact of the SNHU-Kepler program on student learning. We compared outcomes of SNHU-Kepler students to a matched comparison group recruited from local Rwandan universities In 2019, IDinsight followed up with the same students between three months and three years after graduation to measure the impact of the SNHU-Kepler program on long-term academic and labor market outcomes.
Kepler students participating in a karaoke session to practice English pronunciation in Kigali, Rwanda
Read the 2019 working paper - 1 MB
Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) and Kepler have been delivering high-quality skills-based tertiary education to low-income populations in Rwanda. Kepler provides students with access to accredited American degrees by partnering with a competency-based online learning degree program provided by SNHU. This online work is paired with in-person coaching, support services, and career preparation, intended to equip graduates to meet the labor market needs in their countries.
Since enrolling the first cohorts of students in 2013, SNHU and Kepler have worked with IDinsight to understand the impact of the program on students’ learning and employment outcomes.
Youth unemployment and underemployment in sub-Saharan Africa remain high despite a wave of vocational training programs and other active labor market policies introduced over the last decade. In Rwanda, the youth unemployment rate is less than 2%,1 but as many as 2 out of 3 youth are underemployed and few of them obtain formal sector employment.2 This is often attributed to a skills mismatch between tertiary education graduates and available positions in local workforces.3 Between 2013 and 2019, Kepler partnered with IDinsight on an impact evaluation to assess the impact of the SNHU-Kepler program on student learning outcomes.
We used a quasi-experimental design to match the first two cohorts of SNHU-Kepler students, before they started their program in 2013 and 2014, with similar students starting at local Rwandan universities at the same time. To identify comparable matches, we simulated the SNHU-Kepler admissions process, and we filtered out comparison students who had heard of SNHU-Kepler to reduce selection bias. We tracked the two groups over the course of their degree programs and administered annual assessments on a range of academic competencies, including critical thinking, English language, computer literacy, math, and logic skills. In 2019, IDinsight followed up with the same students after they had graduated to measure the impact of the SNHU-Kepler program on post-graduation learning and employment outcomes.
Throughout the program, as measured in 2014, 2015, and 2016, SNHU-Kepler students performed significantly better than matched comparison students on academic assessments testing cognitive skills, English comprehension, critical thinking, and computer literacy. Differences between SNHU-Kepler and comparison students in cognitive skills, English comprehension, and computer literacy were maintained across years, as SNHU-Kepler students continued to outperform the matched comparison group in post-graduation follow-up assessments in 2019. This difference was also seen in employment outcomes. SNHU-Kepler students were more likely to be employed and earned more than double the monthly income of comparison students in 2019 (between 3 months to 3 years after graduating).
These evaluations provided critical evidence in the early years of program design and implementation. Since our early research, SNHU and Kepler have expanded the program to Kiziba Refugee Camp, and SNHU has partnered with other implementing partners in various countries, including the Scalabrini Centre in South Africa.
28 November 2019
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