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.     

THE IMPACT OF INSTITUTIONAL CHOICE AND ENVIRONMENTS ON AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND WHITE STUDENTS' DEGREE EXPECTATIONS

This study examines the effects of individualcharacteristics, institutional characteristics andexperiences, and financial aid measures onAfrican-American and white college students' degreeaspirations. The main theoretical foundations for this studyare the status attainment models developed in the early1970s and Weidman's (1989) model of undergraduatesocialization. The study used the BeginningPostsecondary Students (BPS:90/92) data set, and the findingsshow that regression models between the two groups havemany similarities: Students' aspirations are mostly theresult of socioeconomic factors, initial degree aspirations, and institutional characteristics.Financial aid measures are not significant predictors ofaspirations for African-American students, although workstudy awards and fewer hours per week spent working significantly affect white students'aspirations. There are quite a few differences betweenthe groups' regression models. For instance,intellectual selfconfidence has opposite effects onaspirations for African-American and white students.African-American enrollment and faculty contactpositively affect AfricanAmerican students' aspirations,while tuition cost and peer contact have positiveeffects on white students' aspirations.     

Financial aid tipping points: an analysis of aid and academic achievement at a California community college

The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between financial aid awards and measures of student academic achievement. Financial aid and academic records for 11,956 students attending an urban California community college were examined and analyzed using simultaneous linear regression and two-way factorial ANOVAs. Findings revealed a small inverse relationship between the amount of aid received; thus, students with higher levels of need had slightly lower levels of academic achievement. Further analysis suggests that financial aid awards were able to minimize the negative effects of low income for approximately 70% of financial aid recipients. However, significant differences in grades and the percentage of units completed emerged for the 30% students with the highest demonstrated levels of financial need, suggesting that these students have large levels of unmet need. Implications for institutional and state-level policy as well as for institutional practice are discussed.     

The effects of student financial aid on access to higher education: An analysis of progress with special consideration of minority enrollment

An objective of the federal student financial aid programs is to promote access to higher education, especially for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. During the past few years, concern has been expressed by diverse segments of the higher education community that this objective is not being met for black and Hispanic students. This article analyzes the effects of aid offers on enrollment decisions by college applicants from the classes of 1972, 1980, and 1982, and analyzes the effects the type of aid offered had on enrollment by minority students in the classes of 1980 and 1982. The principal findings from this analysis are that (1) all types of aid packages had a positive impact on enroliment decisions by college applicants in all three classes, and (2) all types of aid had a positive influence on enrollment by minority students.     

An investigation of sex discrimination in the awarding of financial aid to college students

This study investigated whether or not sex discrimination existed in awarding financial aid to college students in 40 midwestern colleges and universities. It examined whether there were significant differences in financial aid awards to incoming freshmen when financial aid directors reviewed simulated aid profiles, which were identical except for the sex and a picture of the applicant. It also examined whether awards varied by type of educational institution. The results yielded no significant differences for either sex or type of institution comparisons, although there was extensive variability in the amounts awarded. If the directors react to real-life profiles as they did to the simulated ones, the federal guidelines would appear sufficient in this instance to prevent sex discrimination.     

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.     

Keeping up with the Joneses: Institutional changes following the adoption of a merit aid policy

The increasing use by private colleges and universities of financial aid based on “merit”, as opposed to based solely on financial need has caused many to raise concerns that this type of aid will go mainly to higher income students crowding out aid to lower income students. However, some analysts suggest that by attracting more “almost full-paying” students through the use of merit aid, institutions will have more financial resources that they can use to increase their financial aid to low-income students and thus their enrollment. Results using data from the College Board's Annual Survey of Colleges and other secondary data sources suggest that the increased use of merit aid is associated with a decrease in enrollment of low-income and minority students, particularly at more selective institutions. Middle and bottom tier colleges may be offsetting costs with tuition increases, as the introduction of merit aid is accompanied by an increase in net costs.     

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.     

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.     

Effects of key state policies on private colleges and universities: sustaining private-sector capacity in the face of the higher education access challenge

The relationship between key state policy variables — (1) relative (private–public) tuition prices, (2) state student-aid funding, and (3) public institution density — and the competitive position of private colleges and universities is examined. Elite private schools are found to be nearly impervious to state policy. Large and moderately selective private institutions are adversely affected by public institution density and low public prices. Such prices divert students who would otherwise prefer these private institutions to similar public schools. State student aid funding most affects the enrollment market shares of the small, low-selectivity private colleges enrolling the greatest proportions of minority and modest-income students. The findings suggest state policies in this era of strong demand for higher education and constrained public sector capacity should use price signals (student aid and public institution pricing) to encourage students to consider seriously whether private higher education might serve their needs as well as or better than public institutions.     

Financial aid and self-reports by disadvantaged students: The importance of being earnest

This study reports findings from a national survey of Hispanic financial aid recipients, and has the unusual feature of having student self-reports of income (theirs or their parents') and verified income figures. The findings are that students do not know very well how much they or their families earn; contrary to other studies, these data reveal that over half the students overestimated actual income. The implications of overreporting are discussed, both for aid awards and use of such self-reports in studies of students. The study warns against the consequences of requiring additional verification.     

Measuring Determinants of Student Return VS. Dropout/Stopout VS. Transfer: A First-to-Second Year Analysis of New Freshmen

To reflect academic challenges and enrollment patterns of today’s freshmen, this study measures the impact of high school preparation, first-year academic performance, multi-institution enrollment, and financial aid support on second-year persistence. Using multi-year cohorts at a public research university, results confirm the importance of including first-year math experience, math intensity of the declared major, simultaneous enrollment at another college/university, and second-year financial aid offers when measuring freshmen retention. The positive impact of a large-scale, state-funded scholarship program in widening access to college must be balanced against findings that show academic performance and readiness to take on and pass first-year math to be more important than aid in explaining freshmen dropout and transfer-out during both first and second semesters. Middle-income students with greater levels of unmet need face an elevated departure risk, while academically well-prepared freshmen with unmet need are more likely to transfer to other institutions.     

The Effect of Florida’s Bright Futures Program on College Enrollment and Degree Production: An Aggregated-Level Analysis

In this study, we investigate the impact of the Bright Futures Scholarship Program on college enrollment and degree production in Florida by using IPEDS enrollment, migration, and completion data. Results suggest large and significant enrollment effects at Florida’s public 4- and 2-year institutions, for both full-time and part-time enrollment. This large growth is at least in part due to reduced out-migration of Florida’s resident students attending out-of-state institutions. Thus the net effect is lower than the enrollment growth in Florida. Finally, our results indicate that the effect of Bright Futures on degree production is lower than that on enrollment. This aggregated-level analysis provides an important baseline for our future research on the effect of Bright Futures on students’ college attendance, choice, financial aid renewal, persistence, and graduation by using detailed individual-level data.     

STUDENTS WHO DROP OUT BEFORE THEY BEGIN: A STUDY OF POTENTIAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO INITIATE THE REGISTRATION PROCESS BUT FAIL TO ENROLL

A follow‐up was conducted on groups of students who initiated steps in the admission process at a community college, but never enrolled. These students were telephone surveyed and compared to similar groups of students who actually enrolled. The stated reasons for non‐enrollment were job issues, financial aid, and personal reasons. Yet when the pre‐admission basic skills tests were compared, the non‐enrolling students had significantly lower scores, leading the authors to conclude that poor academic preparation was a very important reason for non‐enrollment.     

Meeting the Access Challenge: An Examination of Indiana's Twenty-First Century Scholars Program

Early intervention programs can promote access by providing encouragement for academic preparation, but adequate grant aid may be necessary to ensure access for students who prepare. This study examines the impact of Indiana's Twenty-first Century Scholars Program, an intervention that provides supplemental grant aid and academic support for low-income middle and high school students. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses indicated that 8th grade students who participated in the program were more likely to apply than their peers, indicating that encouragement had a modest influence on preparation. Receiving grant aid had a substantial influence on enrollment, indicating adequate aid is an important aspect of a comprehensive postsecondary encouragement program.     

住房影响优质教育机会获得的实证分析——以南京市四主城区小学为例

既有研究表明,家庭背景是影响教育机会获得的重要影响因素.在就近入学政策的背景下,户籍所在地与实际居住地成为就近入学的依据,或会使得住房位置及其价格成为优质教育机会获得乃至教育分层的重要影响因素.但到目前为止,既有研究对优质教育资源获得过程中的“以房择校”机制揭示得并不充分.针对此,利用江苏省2016年基础教育学业质量监测数据,以是否获得优质小学入学机会为因变量,以样本学生的家庭背景和居住地住宅均价为自变量,构建二元logistic模型对南京市四个主城区11704个学生样本进行回归分析.结果表明:就近入学政策背景下,家庭背景对优质教育机会的获得仍具有显著的影响;居住地在学生优质教育机会获得的过程中发挥了中介作用,即家庭背景优势可通过选择居住地位置的方式来影响优质教育机会的获得.因此,增加优质教育资源供给,阻断房价和优质教育资源获取之间的联系,成为新时期推进教育公平的关键环节.     

The effects of tuition and financial aid on the enrollment decision at a state university

Students admitted to more than one institution of higher education face one of the most difficult decisions of their lives. The determinants of these enrollment decisions are crucially important to the yield of qualified students from the number admitted to colleges and universities. This paper specifies an empirical model of the enrollment decision for students admitted both to Rutgers University and to at least one alternate college. Our estimates of the parameters of the model with a binary choice multiple regression equation show that students base their enrollment decision on the relative quality of the schools, their own abilities and family resources, and the net costs of the schools. The results are relevant to university tuition and financial aid policies. The general methodology is replicable by other institutions seeking information on the determinants of the enrollment decision.     

大学贫困生认定及资助工作研究

随着中国教育的发展及高校的扩招,高校贫困生问题已越来越凸显。对此,国家采取了一系列措施并建立了一系列资助体系来帮助困难大学生完成学业,然而当前我国没有统一的界定贫困生的标准,这势必增加了高校贫困生界定工作的难度。鉴于此,主要针对大学贫困生的界定和具体资助等问题提出一些解决对策,旨在为以后的贫困生界定工作提供一定的参考。     

HOPE for community college students: The impact of merit aid on persistence,graduation, and earnings

Community colleges play a major role in postsecondary education, yet previous research has emphasized the impact of merit aid on four-year students rather than two-year students. Furthermore, researchers have focused on the impact of merit aid on enrollment and outcomes during college, but to my knowledge, none have yet considered the impact of aid on earnings after college. This paper utilizes discontinuities in eligibility criteria for a large merit scholarship to examine the local impact of aid on student outcomes both during college and after college. The findings suggest that reducing the cost of community college does not impact persistence, academic performance, degree completion, expected earnings, or short-term earnings after college for marginally eligible students.     

Redistributive fee increases, net attendance costs, and the distribution of students at the public university

This paper examines the effect of policies that increase tuition at public four-year colleges while returning a substantial portion of the revenue to economically disadvantaged students in the form of increased financial aid awards. Such “redistributive fee increases” are demonstrated to have potentially important effects on the distribution of students choosing to attend in-state public four-year colleges. Specifically, if in-state public four-year net attendance costs increase by themselves high-test students are far more likely than low-test students to choose alternative paths while if the net attendance costs of alternative paths also increase Black and Hispanic students are most likely to choose alternative paths.