The purpose of this paper is to investigate the following question: To what extent would a nationally competitive scholarship program increase science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree awards to our "best and brightest"? This inquiry is prompted by a 2006 report of a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) panel, "Rising Above the…

As the nation's newest broad-based merit aid program, the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship program's generous eligibility requirements may target the very students who are disproportionately left out of similar programs in other states. This article compares the scholarship eligibility rates of Tennessee students with three other states:…

This report, "State Tuition, Fees, and Financial Assistance Policies for Public Colleges and Universities: 2010-11", examines the philosophies, policies, and procedures that influence decision-making regarding public college and university tuition, student fees, and student financial aid programs. This report also provides information…

The Department of Education is vitally interested in whether the financial incentives provided by the grants affect student behavior. That is, will the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACGs) induce more economically disadvantaged high school students to complete a rigorous high school program and enroll and succeed in postsecondary education? Will…

Graduation rates for male athletes overall as well as men's football and basketball players lag behind those of male non-athletes at Division I colleges and universities. Scholarship athletes, however, are much more likely to be drawn from racial and ethnic groups with lower average graduation rates. After accounting for differences in racial…

Subsidies to higher education in the United States have long been guided by the belief that policy should encourage college attendance. In principle, if not always in practice, policy has for some time sought to accomplish this by addressing college affordability. General subsidies that keep tuition at public institutions low are coupled with…

Florida's Bright Futures program is one of the nation's largest merit-based scholarship initiatives. This study used high school transcript and college enrollment data to examine the program's impact on high school course-taking patterns, school grades, college entrance exam scores, and rates of college attendance over time. The study indicates…

This study used data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) for 1989-90 and 1995-96 to examine the awarding of need-based and merit student financial aid to entering college freshmen by private four-year colleges. Regression analysis used the amount of institutional need-based grant awarded to an individual freshman as a…

A study interviewed 25 individuals with visual impairments who received Career Incentive Awards between 1986 and 1995. Results found the participants were a diverse group in terms of personal and educational backgrounds, career goals, and age, yet all demonstrated a common drive to succeed and were highly educated. (Contains references.) (CR)

Presents a case study that reports on one institution's longitudinal approach to measuring the effectiveness of merit scholarships as a recruitment and retention tool. Describes a method of analysis designed to measure the economic effectiveness of merit awards from the institution's perspective and identifies policy questions related to the use…

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…

The effect of Rutgers University's merit-based scholarship program on attracting talented students, students' experiences at the university, and the provision of high quality education was studied. The university merit awards fell into four categories: Rutgers Presidential Scholar Award, five National Merit and five National Achievement…

This study provides insight into selected factors which affect choice of teaching as a career as well as choice of a college. Sixty-one percent of the 142 high school students in the sample who marked teaching as their planned career indicated that scholarships were "very important" to career choice. Thirty-two percent indicated that it was…

Many colleges and universities provide grant aid to undergraduates to help them pay for all or part of the tuition and fees charged by the institution. This study provides information about recent trends in institutional aid receipt and then examines the relationship between such aid and the likelihood of recipients staying enrolled in the…

Recent research indicates a trend toward increases in the share of all institution-based student aid funds going to merit aid and in merit scholarship competition among institutions. This paper presents findings of a study that surveyed 379 nonprofit bachelors'-degree-granting institutions in 1983-84 and 1991-92. Findings indicate that the less…