Merit aid, a discount to college costs contingent upon academic performance, is nothing new. Colleges and private organizations have long rewarded high-achieving, college-bound high school students with scholarships. While merit aid has a long history in the private sector, it has not played a major role in the public sector. At the state level,…

The complexity of the federal tax code has been the focus of reform efforts for decades, and has received considerable attention in the economic literature. The federal system for distributing student financial aid is similarly convoluted, yet has received relatively little attention from economists. For the typical household, the aid application…