ERIC Number: ED671480
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Oct
Pages: 51
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: 0000-00-00
The Impact of Merit Aid on College Choice and Degree Attainment: Reexamining Florida's Bright Futures Program. EdWorkingPaper No. 20-306
Oded Gurantz; Taylor Odle
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
We replicate and extend prior work on Florida's Bright Futures merit aid scholarship to consider its effect on college enrollment and degree completion. We estimate causal impacts using a regression discontinuity design to exploit SAT thresholds that strongly determine eligibility. We find no positive impacts on attendance or attainment, and instrumental variable results generally reject estimates as small as 1-2 percentage points. Across subgroups, we do find that eligibility slightly reduces six-year associate degree attainment for lower-SES students and may induce small enrollment shifts among Hispanic and White students. Our findings of these minimal-at-best impacts contrast those of prior works, attributable in part to methodological improvements and more robust data, and further underscore the importance of study replication. (JEL: H75, I21, I22, I23, I28)
Descriptors: Merit Scholarships, College Choice, Educational Attainment, State Programs, Enrollment, Low Income Students, White Students, Hispanic American Students, Eligibility, Associate Degrees, Bachelors Degrees, College Entrance Examinations, In State Students, Out of State Students, Time to Degree
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. Brown University Box 1985, Providence, RI 02912. Tel: 401-863-7990; Fax: 401-863-1290; e-mail: annenberg@brown.edu; Web site: https://annenberg.brown.edu/
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Identifiers - Location: Florida
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: SAT (College Admission Test)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A