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.…

Institutional merit-based financial aid awards are widely utilized by enrollment management practitioners to attract and retain students desired by the institution and to increase net tuition revenue. While much research has been conducted on federal need-based aid and statewide merit aid, relatively few studies have been conducted on merit aid…

The purpose of this study was to report on the effects of a comprehensive set of postsecondary grant aid programs on outcomes from initial college enrollment to post-college employment, based on a systematic review of the literature from January 2002 to January 2020. Studies that used randomized-controlled trials, regression discontinuity designs,…

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…

The Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (subsequently renamed the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, also known as TOPS), Louisiana's merit-based student aid program, was created via Act 1375 of the 1997 Regular Legislative Session. The first freshman class to receive TOPS awards entered postsecondary education in the fall of 1998. Act…

Over the previous two decades, state lawmakers have made two fundamental changes to how they finance their public universities. They have shifted more of the costs of higher education to students and their families through higher tuition rates; and created new grant programs that are not solely based on financial need but require prior…

St. Lawrence University received a five-year Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to create the multidisciplinary Liberal Arts Science Scholars program (award #1458712), which makes a high quality science and mathematics education accessible to high achieving,…

In this paper, we leverage detailed, individual-level student data to understand the relationships between family finances, merit-based aid, and first-year student retention. With three cohorts of student data that comprise family financial status, institutional merit scholarships, and many of the other known correlates of student retention, we…

While the literature on postsecondary student success identifies important academic and social factors associated with student outcomes, one question that persists concerns the influence of financial aid. We use the National Student Clearinghouse's StudentTracker service to develop a more complete model of student success that accommodates…

In accordance with Alaska statute the departments of Education & Early Development (EED) and Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD), the University of Alaska (UA), and the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE) present this second annual report on the Alaska Performance Scholarship (APS). Among the highlights: (1) In the public…

Comprising eleven financial aid programs, the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (TELS) provided financial aid to 101,569 students at a cost of $297,589,674 in 2010-11 (Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation [TSAC], 2011). The four largest programs (the HOPE scholarship program, the General Assembly Merit Scholarship program [GAMS], the…

The current study examined the validity of the selection process used for the National Merit Scholarship Program (NMSP) to identify scholarship winners. Namely, this study examined whether students who advanced to higher NMSP recognition levels (Commended Students, Semifinalists, and various levels of award winners) had higher college performance,…

The underrepresentation of women in technical fields is a widely acknowledged national problem, limiting both the raw size of the talent pool and the diversity of experiences and perspectives of those who will design solutions to key problems facing society. Empowering women to succeed in these fields is clearly one important component of any…

This study examined if the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (TELS), which began in 2004, was related to student retention at the six Tennessee Board of Regents four-year institutions. This study investigated the impact of the TELS on student retention at TBR universities and general knowledge regarding retention. Post-facto data were…

The SREB Fact Book on Higher Education includes data on the population and economy, enrollment, degrees, student tuition and financial aid, faculty and administrators, revenue and expenditures. With more than 100 tables of detailed information, the Fact Book is one of the nation's most respected and most comprehensive collections of comparative…