Objective/Research Question: States have increasingly used merit-based criteria to distribute scholarships and grants, and the dominant conversation on merit-aid programs centers on students attending 4-year colleges and universities. This study examines the characteristics of state-funded merit-aid programs for community college students and…

Universities use merit-based scholarships as a recruitment tool to attract and enrol academically talented students. Various literature concludes scholarships can have an overall positive impact on the enrolment yield of new students. This article provides an analysis of the merit-based scholarship programme for new students at a Japan-based…

Georgia offers two merit-based scholarships to in-state college students: HOPE Scholarships, which provide partial tuition support, and Zell Miller Scholarships, which provide full tuition support but with stricter eligibility and retention conditions. Studies have examined retention of these scholarships but not other dynamics, including gaining…

This randomized trial investigates the long-term effects of a primary school scholarship program in rural Cambodia. We estimate impacts--9 years after program inception--on educational attainment, cognitive skills, socio-emotional outcomes, labor market outcomes, and well-being. Our results point to systematic improvements in educational…

Low-income students' preferences for higher education might depend on the uncertainty of financial aid. Using a time discontinuity design, this paper exploits the unanticipated cancellation of a nationwide Colombian merit and need-based scholarship, called "Ser Pilo Paga," to study its consequences on students' preferences for higher…

When institutions introduce financial aid policies, researchers have an opportunity to study these policies within the framework of a natural experiment. For this methodological note, I use a natural experiment that occurred at the public university when institutional scholarship for all first-time freshmen meeting a minimum high school grade…

The United States has widely experimented with merit-based financial aid to make college more accessible and affordable for its youth. Varying in design and benefits, these state-run programs subsidize college costs for academically meritorious high-school graduates. While broadly linked to higher college attendance the distribution of aid…

While the popularity of state-financed merit-based scholarships has increased since the 1980s, policymakers struggle to maintain these programs because of growing costs. Some have tried to manage this tradeoff through eligibility changes or award amounts; however, little empirical research exists on the effectiveness of these changes. We add to…

This study examines the perceptions of university students from inter-ethnic marriage families (hereafter as multicultural students) on their experiences with affirmative action policy. Ten university multicultural students who entered leading universities through affirmative action amidst the highly competitive higher education entrance exams in…

The higher education community continues to pursue solutions to the alarming number of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) undergraduates leaving their degree programs. This qualitative study investigated the experiences of 12 STEM scholarship recipients in a near-peer-mentored social support group at a large Midwestern university.…

Purpose: The Australian Government has long used its international scholarship programs as an instrument of soft power in international diplomacy. The paper examines an international scholarship program and its role in Australia's soft power efforts during a period in recent history. Design/methodology/approach: The Australia in the Asian Century…

Objective/Research Question: Community college "Promise" programs have proliferated recently, particularly in areas with many low-income, academically struggling students. Many Promise programs restrict eligibility by high school performance but set eligibility thresholds quite low. As such they function as "low-bar" merit…

Becoming HOPEless in the 2-year sector addresses the question: "what happens when a state-wide policy removes merit-based financial aid from low-income students making satisfactory academic progress?" To assess the magnitude of this HOPEless effect, we compared credits attempted, attained, and persistence and graduation indicators of…

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…

The allocation of merit-based awards and need-based aid is important to both universities and students who wish to attend the universities. Current approaches tend to consider only institution-centric objectives (e.g. enrollment, revenue) and neglect student-centric objectives in their formulations of the problem. There is lack of consideration to…