While considerable evidence has accumulated on state-funded merit-based scholarships, research on the effects of specific scholarship design choices has been thin, perhaps in part because cross-state comparisons are difficult. As one of the only states to enact major changes in the design of its merit-based scholarship program, Georgia provides a…

Place-based scholarships within the College Promise movement reduce the cost of college for students in particular places and often include incentives for families to live in places for a longer period of time to capture full program benefits. This financial incentive may change the residential mobility decisions of people living in and around…

Credit momentum policies, or performance-based financial aid policies, have become increasingly popular among policymakers seeking to improve degree completion rates. This paper examines Indiana's 30-credit-hour completion policy on first-time, full-time students who receive the Twenty-First Century Scholars (TFCS) Promise Program. Using…

While increasing numbers of students have gained access to higher education during the last several decades, postsecondary persistence and academic success remain serious concerns with only about half of college entrants completing degrees. Given concerns about affordability and resources, policymakers and administrators wonder how financial aid…

The Federal Pell Grant Program is the nation's largest need-based grant program. While students' initial eligibility for the Pell is based on financial need, renewal is contingent on meeting minimum academic standards similar to those in models of performance-based scholarships, including a grade point average (GPA) requirement and ratio of…

As state-level merit-based financial aid programs proliferate, analysts both find that these programs have a disproportionate effect on students traditionally under-represented in postsecondary education and question the use of limited public resources in an inefficient and inequitable manner. This study, using survey data regarding the…

This study examines how state merit-based scholarships "individually" and "simultaneously" with prepaid tuition plans influence the interstate migration of college-bound freshmen. State freshman migration percentages were examined over a 10-year period. Results of an interrupted time-series model suggested that students generally respond to…

This study uses a unique set of microdata on university applications to examine the role played by institutional attributes in choices made by graduating high school students between the 17 universities in the Province of Ontario, Canada. We estimate a rank-ordered logit model that uses all information contained in each applicant's ranking of…

This article describes EXCEL, a program that encourages youth underrepresented in higher education to enroll in higher education, specifically at the sponsoring university. Eighty-three eighth grade students with GPA of B and above and standardized test scores at grade level or above were randomly assigned to the program or to a control group. The…

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…

The extent to which postsecondary access and choice are promoted by the scholarship and grant programs in California, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania is examined. Findings: these programs induce a substantial number of students from low-income families to attend, are particularly helpful to women, and are responsible for the attendance of…

A survey of 400 students at the American University of Beirut (Lebanon) receiving scholarships from the Hariri Foundation investigated the relationship of the foundation to the student, finding that political pressures prejudiced selection of grant recipients. Students felt that the foundation had not been professional and were reluctant to…

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…

During early 1990s, increases in private colleges' prices outpaced increases in inflation, input prices, and income growth, but after accounting for rapidly increasing college-funded student aid, positive differentials decreased relative to the 1980s. Substantial dispersion among private colleges in actual net prices received from full-time…