One of the major developments in financing undergraduate education in the United States in the past 20 years has been the introduction of broad-based merit-aid programs by state governments. The typical program waives tuition and fees at public colleges and universities for state residents who have attained a respectable grade-point average…

This paper investigates the impact of attending college in a state on the probability of working in that state, looking at states' adoption of merit based scholarship programs as a major source of student financial aid. The study uses information on the set of colleges that students applied to as a way to account for selection in college…