The designation "low income" is often assigned to students who are Federal Pell Grant eligible; however, family incomes for these recipients range from $0 to as high as $60,000 (Baum & Payea, 2011). Over 93% of all zero expected family contribution (EFC) students have a family income of $30,000 or less and constituted 67.4% of all…

Since 1964, the Federal Work-Study (FWS) program has provided funds to subsidize the wages of student employees, but it has never been studied directly. I use an instrumental variables difference-in-difference framework with administrative data from West Virginia to identify causal effects, comparing eligible and ineligible students across…

The aggregate financing of student aid by the federal government, state governments, and institutions over the past 25 years is discussed. Trends in the composition of aid delivered (grants, loans, and work study) are described. Over time comparisons in the numbers of recipients and aid per recipient are given by programs. (Author/MLW)

The National Postsecondary Student Aid Study collected data for sample students from registrar and financial aid offices at postsecondary institutions. The data were collected for students enrolled in a postsecondary institution in fall 1986. Since substantial numbers of students are not enrolled in fall and are therefore not represented in the…

The impact of student aid policies on women is assessed. Differences in the conditions affecting men's and women's need for aid are identified, along with actions that could improve women's participation in student aid programs. Gender issues in student aid policy include: loan burden, default, and bankruptcy; the award of merit scholarships;…