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…

In this brief, the authors review some of the main goals of state student financial aid programs and provide a few examples of how these programs are organized. They also describe how state programs vary in terms of who benefits. They then discuss various possible designs for joint federal-state policymaking in this area and study their impact.…

This report describes the findings from a series of descriptive analyses seeking to understand the potential relationship between college access and school poverty for high-achieving middle school students, focusing specifically on potential access to state merit-based grant funding. Researchers monitored the academic achievement of more than…

Institutions across the country continue to ponder and evaluate strategies for aligning financial aid to complement their enrollment goals. Two Indiana University enrollment managers examine the purposeful application of institutional aid in financial aid packaging. In response to the debate about the of merit-based aid vs. the appropriate share…

The Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (TELS) program was designed to meet the unique needs of the state of Tennessee while also incorporating the hallmark elements of existing merit-based aid programs in other states. Developed through a process involving elected officials and members of the academic community, the TELS program aims to…

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…

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…

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…

This study, mandated by Virginia law in 1999, reviews need-based student financial aid programs. The mandate specifies that the study must review policies and implementation strategies used in other states; present alternative policies and administrative structures for need-based programs in Virginia; provide alternatives for a simplified,…

This report, sixth in a series of updates by State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO), is a comprehensive assessment of state policies related to public college and university tuition, fees, and financial aid. Significant variation was found among the states in the basic philosophy that guides decision making regarding tuition levels in…