ERIC Number: EJ1070872
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0884-9153
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Using a Merit-Based Scholarship Program to Increase Rates of College Enrollment in an Urban School District: The Case of the Pittsburgh Promise
Bozick, Robert; Gonzalez, Gabriella; Engberg, John
Journal of Student Financial Aid, v45 n2 Article 2 2015
The Pittsburgh Promise is a scholarship program that provides $5,000 per year toward college tuition for public high school graduates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who earned a 2.5 GPA and a 90% attendance record. This study used a difference-in-difference design to assess whether the introduction of the Promise scholarship program directly influenced changes in rates of college enrollment among students graduating from Pittsburgh public high schools in years immediately following the launch of the program. Becker's (1964) standard human capital investment model, which predicts that youth make cost-benefit calculations to guide their college enrollment decisions, provides the framework for the analysis. Our analysis of data on two graduating classes prior to the scholarship's implementation (2005-06 and 2006-07) and three years following the scholarship's implementation (2007-08, 2008-09, and 2009-10) yielded mixed results. Findings showed that the scholarship had no direct effect on the overall rate of college enrollment. However, scholarship-eligible graduates were more likely to attend four-year schools in the years in which the scholarship was available.
Descriptors: Merit Scholarships, College Bound Students, Enrollment Influences, Enrollment Management, Urban Schools, Case Studies, High School Graduates, Tuition Grants, Data Analysis, Student Records, Program Effectiveness, Program Evaluation, Eligibility, Predictor Variables, Student Characteristics, Enrollment Rate, Regression (Statistics), Models, Probability, Predictive Measurement
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. 1101 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 1100, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-785-0453; Fax: 202-785-1487; e-mail: membership@nasfaa.org; Web site: http://www.nasfaa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education; High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Arkansas; California; Colorado; Connecticut; Florida; Indiana; Kentucky; Maryland; Michigan; New York; North Carolina; Ohio; Pennsylvania
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A