Exploring the Effects of Student Expectations about Financial Aid on Postsecondary Choice: A Focus on Income and Racial/Ethnic Differences

This study investigates how the expectations of different types of financial aid affect the student college choice process from application through enrollment. We find that students from different race and income groups respond differentially to aid packages in their application and enrollment decisions depending on their levels of aid expectations. In application behavior, Asians at all income levels increase their likelihood of application at a greater rate in response to an increase in their aid expectations than other racial groups. Simulations indicate that enrollment probabilities decline more for African American and Hispanic students than whites and Asians when they expect to receive financial aid but do not. The findings suggest the particular importance of financial aid packages in the college choice process for underrepresented minority students.     

The effects of student aid on recent college graduates

Using college graduates from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (N=3,136), this study reviews the relationships between student financial aid received during college and the types of activities pursued by students after graduating. Four areas of graduates' lives were examined: attending graduate school, choosing a job, forming a family, and forming personal values. Three types of student aid were included: loans, grants, and work, with emphasis on loans. Despite the expectation of a negative impact of loans, the results showed no support for this, and in general, the findings suggested that college graduates who received aid as undergraduates were little different from other graduates. The major implication is that the self-help forms of aid (loans and work) are not detrimental to the future plans of recipients.This paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Washington, D.C., April 1979.     

Exploring the Relationship between State Financial Aid Policy and Postsecondary Enrollment Choices: A Focus on Income and Race Differences

This study explores the relationship between state financial aid policies and postsecondary enrollment for high school graduates (or equivalent diploma holders). Utilizing an event history modeling for a nationally representative sample from the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88/2000) in addition to state-level policy variables, this study examined how state aid policies differentially affect students’ postsecondary enrollment choices depending on their family income and race/ethnicity between the years 1992 through 2000. The findings demonstrate that there is a clear and consistent gap in college enrollment for students who are from different income and race/ethnic groups, and that changes in state financial aid policy are significantly related with the type of institutions a student attends across income and racial groups. The study findings have important implications for state aid policy as well as future research on the role of public financial aid policy in college choice of students from different income and racial/ethnic backgrounds.     

“You pay your share,we’ll pay our share”: The college cost burden and the role of race,income, and college assets

Changes in financial aid policies raise questions about students being asked to pay too much for college and whether parents’ college savings for their children helps reduce the burden on students to pay for college. Using trivariate probit analysis with predicted probabilities, in this exploratory study we find recent changes in the financial aid system place a higher responsibility on African American, Latino/Hispanic, and moderate-income students to pay for college themselves. We also find when parents open a savings account, start a state-sponsored savings plan, or open a college investment fund students are less likely to pay for college with student contributions. Therefore, we suggest in addition to grants and scholarships, policies that encourage accumulation of savings for college among minority and lower income families may help reduce the college cost burden they experience.     

The influence of financial aid in leveling group differences in graduating from elite institutions

This paper assesses the effectiveness of financial aid in promoting the persistence of black and Hispanic students admitted to the most selective colleges and universities in the United States to complete their college education. To explore whether more dollars of aid enhance graduation, the analysis separates two constructs—aid eligibility and aid amount—when assessing their influence on graduation likelihood of these students. Using the College & Beyond (C&B) database and implementing an IV/LATE analytical strategy, I find that although need-based aid eligibility is negatively related to graduation likelihood, aid amounts exert a positive influence on graduation, conditional on eligibility for aid. Among types of aid, grants and scholarships have the most positive effect on graduation. The results also indicate that financial aid amounts help equalize initial racial and ethnic differences in graduation likelihood. Minority students’ graduation likelihood is found to be more sensitive to the amount of financial resources they secure, especially in the form of grants and scholarships, than that of their white counterparts.     

60年的探索:建国以来我国大学生资助政策探析

建国60年以来,政府对大学生的资助政策从免费加人民助学金到奖学金为主,再到政府为主的多元资助体系,表明对大学生的资助政策正在日益完善。在资助对象上,贫困的资格逐步明确,准入的可能性大大增加;在资助内容上,一套多元的资助体系已经形成;在资助方式上,政府的投入逐渐加大,中央政府、地方政府、高校等各方的责任分担也日益清晰。这些政策及其变化反映了国家政策在公平与效率间的权衡,也反映了大学生资助政策的激励导向和对充足的追求。     

The Effects of Financial Aid on College Success of Two-Year Beginning Nontraditional Students

This study aims to understand the role of financial aid in college success of two-year beginning nontraditional students. By applying discrete time event history models with propensity score covariate adjustment to a nationally representative sample from BPS: 04/09, this study answers research questions centering around the effects of Pell Grants, subsidized student loans and unsubsidized student loans on six-year college outcomes of nontraditional students (i.e. degree attainment, system departure, and continuous enrollment without a degree). The results of this study suggest that these nontraditional students were most likely to drop out in the third college year and that all three types of financial aid appeared effective for reducing dropout risks, but not for encouraging timely degree completion. These findings have significant implications for policy and practice including the necessity for considering the complexity of nontraditional student pathways, backgrounds and unique needs when designing and implementing financial aid policy. The findings also contribute to discussions on ways to fund nontraditional students and provide recommendations for institutions serving large populations of nontraditional students to promote persistence to graduation.     

Modeling the impacts of national and institutional financial aid opportunities on persistence at an elite Chilean university

Much of the recent Chilean educational debate and reform has centered around issues of higher education cost, debt burden, and availability of grants versus loans. This quantitative case study of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile sought to understand the longitudinal contributions of combinations of types of financial aid to persistence of low-income students. The results identified that the aggregate availability of both grants and loans at the university-level has a net positive contribution beyond the contributions of national-level grants and loans. In finest distinction, however, only ministry aid (in the form of need-based grants and loans) decreased the likelihood of dropping out. Such findings suggest that universities may want to consider carefully as part of a comprehensive persistence plan how they leverage institution-level contributions to student aid packages.     

Estimating the relationship between calculated financial need and actual aid received using quarter of birth instruments

When calculating financial need, the FAFSA does not consider the parental income of students who turn 24 years old. This paper uses the student's quarter of birth interacted with the treated cohort to instrument for financial need. Using the interaction mitigates many of the concerns regarding quarter of birth instruments. A dollar increase in financial need is associated with 15 cents in federal grants and 47 cents in loans. However, the relationship between financial need and institutional aid is, on average, small and statistically insignificant. The exception is that institutions with large endowments do allocate more aid to more-needy students.     

Price response in enrollment decisions: An analysis of the High School and Beyond Sophomore cohort

Most research on student price response was conducted on students who entered college before the Pell Grant program was implemented in fall 1973. This study uses the High School and Beyond Sophomore cohort, the High School Class of 1982, to analyze the effects of the amount of tuition charged and aid offered on student enrollment decisions. The findings include (1) all forms of financial aid—grants, work, and loans—were effective in promoting enrollment; (2) one hundred dollars of aid (any type) had a stronger influence on enrollment than a one-hundred-dollar reduction in tuition; (3) low-income students were more responsive to increases in grant aid than to increases in loans or work study; and (4) high-income students were not responsive to changes in aid amounts.     

To Apply or Not to Apply: FAFSA Completion and Financial Aid Gaps

In the United States, college students must complete the Free Application for Student Federal Aid (FAFSA) to access federal aid. However, many eligible students do not apply and consequently forgo significant amounts of financial aid. If students have perfect information about aid eligibility, we would expect that all eligible students complete FAFSA and no aid would go unclaimed. Using data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey, I estimate a multinomial logit model which controls for all variables that contribute to aid eligibility and other student characteristics that may deter FAFSA completion. I find that students who are lower middle income, white, male and independent from parents are less likely to complete FAFSA even when they are eligible for aid. Using propensity score matching, I find that each year applicants forgo $9,741.05 in total aid (including grant and loan aid) which includes $1,281.00 of Pell Grants, $2,439.50 of the balance subsidized student loans, $1,986.65 of the balance of unsubsidized student loans, and $1,016.04 of institutional grants. These aid totals aggregate to $24 billion annually.     

MEASURING THE IMPACT OF INCOME AND FINANCIAL AID OFFERS ON COLLEGE ENROLLMENT DECISIONS

This study analyzes the impact of demographic,socioeconomic, and financial factors on the enrollmentbehavior of accepted college applicants. The receipt offinancial aid had a positive impact on the enrollment decisions of accepted applicants. For every$1,000 increase in the amount of aid offered, theprobability of enrollment increased between 1.1% and2.5%. Grants and loans had the expected positive impact on enrollment, but work study did not enticeprospective students unless it was packaged with somegrant or loan assistance. Upper-income applicants wereless likely to enroll at this institution regardless of financial aid incentives.     

略论我国当前大学生资助体系的构成与特点

为帮助和促进大学生健康成长与顺利成才,我国大学生资助体系正日益完善,目前主要由奖学金、助学金、国家助学贷款、学费与贷款代偿四大部分构成。随着大学生资助体系的不断健全,其基本特点主要有四点：一是由无偿给予为主转为重在有偿资助,二是由资助形式不多改为资助体系丰富,三是坚持激励优秀先进与济困解难并重,四是从侧重奖励优秀转向注重关爱贫困,强调资助解困与助学育人相结合。     

Financial Aid and Attainment Among Students in a State with Changing Demographics

Using event history analysis, this study investigated to what extent differentiated forms of aid affected the educational attainment of various student populations with particular interest on the Latinos/as within this emerging settlement state: Indiana. Findings suggest that the effects of aid are moderated by race and ethnicity. State grants, primarily need-based, played a significant if not modest role in encouraging persistence among Latino students, more so than peers from other racial/ethnic groups. No significant direct relationship was found between federal grants and loans for Latino students with respect to graduation.     

学生资助和高等教育机会均等(续2)——对中日美3国的比较分析

本期主要讨论日本、中国的学费和学生资助状况。在日本,学费上涨很快,但是学生资助制度没有及时得到完善。国家财政提供的资助主要通过日本学生资助机构办理。该资助属贷款而不是赠予,学生在毕业后必须偿还。多数私立大学虽设立了具有其特色的奖助贷学金,但获资助学生非常少。即便是日本国立大学的学生,其教育费负担也很重。在中国,公立大学的学费飞速上涨。虽然中国的学生资助类型多样,但是赠予型多用于奖优,助贫主要靠贷款,借贷学生的偿还压力很大。中日两国都有待于进一步改善其教育机会均等化政策。     

High School Students’ Accuracy in Estimating the Cost of College: A Proposed Methodological Approach and Differences Among Racial/Ethnic Groups and College Financial-Related Factors

High school students’ accuracy in estimating the cost of college (AECC) was examined by utilizing a new methodological approach, the absolute-deviation-continuous construct. This study used the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) data and examined 10,530 11th grade students in order to measure their AECC for 4-year public and private postsecondary institutions. The findings revealed that high school students tended to overestimate the cost of college, especially 4-year public in-state tuition. Second, this investigation explored AECC differences across racial/ethnic groups. Lastly, this research examined how AECC differed based on racial/ethnic and college financial-related factors (importance of cost on college enrollment, knowledge of and intent to complete FAFSA, and eligibility for financial aid). This examination is important because it is the first critical analysis of AECC and is timely given the data were collected immediately after the Great Recession.     

Losing HOPE: Financial aid and the line between college and work

Although a wealth of research has shown that financial aid reduces hurdles to college enrollment, much less is known about how students react to the common occurrence of losing aid midway through their college careers. Using longitudinal data on two cohorts of Tennessee public college students and regression discontinuity designs centered around merit-based HOPE scholarship renewal benchmarks, we find that losing one’s scholarship results in a small degree of detachment from college and a rise in earnings of about 14 cents per dollar of lost aid. We see no local impact, however, on timely degree completion, which implies that HOPE loss may have merely accelerated a small number of students’ migration out of college. It remains to be seen how students fare farther below the renewal threshold, or whether they are better off for having had the HOPE scholarship at all, albeit for a short time.     

Willingness to Pay and Preference for Private Institutions

This study focuses on the correlates of student preference for private institutions over public institutions in their senior year in high school, with a particular focus on the effects of students' subjective responses to tuition costs and to financial aid availability. The data for this study were drawn from a longitudinal study of postsecondary educational choice of high school students in the state of Indiana. The results indicate that in addition to student and family background and student academic characteristics, students' subjective responses to tuition costs and to financial aid availability have a substantial linkage with student preference for private or public institutions. This study suggests that family and ascribed characteristics alone do not explain student preference for the type of postsecondary institution. Students' subjective responses to tuition costs and to financial aid availability are also directly related to student preference for a certain type of postsecondary institution, independent of student family background and academic characteristics. This suggests that the willingness to pay, not only the ability to pay, plays a direct role in student college choice decisions. The implications for policy making are discussed.     

高校贫困生资助模式创新探析

自我国高校实行扩招和收费制度改革以来,贫困生问题日益突显,成为高校发展过程中的一大难题。现行高校贫困生资助模式以"奖、贷、助、补、减、勤"为主,虽可以解决物质之需,但不能解决贫困生的心理和能力等方面的贫困问题。高校要以经济资助为起点,以心理扶持为重点,以能力提升为关键,不断创新贫困生资助模式,从而提高贫困生资助工作的资助效益。