The COVID-19 pandemic has created and will continue to create uncertainty in all facets of everyday life, exacerbating current challenges -- and generating new ones -- for every sector of the economy, including postsecondary education. As the pandemic continues, postsecondary education faces increasing pressures as concerns about health and…

The Kentucky Education Excellence Scholarship (KEES) is a merit-based scholarship program intended to increase college access, long-term academic commitment, and retention of top students within the state. KEES uses a heavily graduated award structure and both high school grade point average and standardized test scores to establish award amounts.…

The 1990s ushered in a new age in state financial support for college students, with the rise of broad-based merit scholarships. Starting in the South and spreading from there, the premise of the "new generation" of programs was simple--states should be in the business of rewarding student performance, retaining the state's "best…

Describes how delivering on the promises of broad-based merit scholarships has been neither easy nor cheap. Problems with such programs, which offer scholarship money to in-state students who meet modest academic requirements, include skyrocketing costs, intense popularity with the public which makes change difficult, legal challenges, and many…

This is a collection of papers from a 2001 symposium at Harvard University entitled "State Merit Aid Programs: College Access and Equity." After a Foreword by Gary Orfield, the seven papers are (1) "State Merit Scholarship Programs: An Introduction" (Donald E. Heller); (2) "Merit Scholarships and College Access: Evidence…

Georgia's merit-based HOPE scholarships, which cover tuition and fees for over half the undergraduates at the University of Georgia, are credited for bringing better students to the university but also for bringing pressure for grade inflation to the institution. Recipients must maintain a B grade average. The university has become competitive…

In the first decade of the 21st century, the nation, the states, and colleges and universities began to grapple with the challenges of globalization, changing demography, the implications of the digital era, and of a less expansive public sector. Although not a transformative period for higher education, the decade saw significant innovations in…

Since the early nineties, a dozen states have established broad-based merit aid programs. The typical program waives tuition and fees at public colleges and universities in one's home state. Unlike traditional merit programs, such as the National Merit Scholarship, this aid requires relatively modest academic performance and provides scholarships…

Ten years ago, the state best known for its peaches launched a revolution that still reverberates in the halls of colleges and universities across the country. Faced with a plethora of poorly performing high-school students and a growing number of graduates fleeing the state for postsecondary study, Georgia unveiled its Helping Outstanding Pupils…

Louisiana's program of state merit scholarships, inspired by Georgia's HOPE Scholarship program, is over budget in its first year because lawmakers pushed to expand eligibility and data for estimating costs was inadequate. Critics find such programs often provide aid to families with little financial need. The program pays full tuition at state…

Financial assistance for individuals attending college has existed in this country almost as long as higher education itself. Institutions awarded many of the earliest scholarships based on students' academic merit, with consideration often given to financial need. This practice was carried into the twentieth century, largely by private elite…

The triple threat of cutbacks in state and federal funding to higher education, soaring college tuition, and shifting policy priorities for student aid leaves more Hispanic and other minority students behind. This stops them on the road to success and negatively impacts the nation's educated work force, for Hispanics are the youngest, largest…

[New England Resource Center for Higher Education's] NERCHE's think tank members recently participated in a discussion of the competitive forces driving change in higher education. The discussion, facilitated by The Futures Project: Policy for Higher Education in a Changing World (www.futuresproject.org), revealed tremendous concern among faculty…