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…

Merit aid is an increasingly important component of college scholarships, but policymakers are concerned that merit aid is often given to students who would enroll anyway. As a baseline we use a regression discontinuity (RD) framework to test an institution-level merit aid program at a public research university and find that the merit aid program…

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,…

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…

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…

In this paper we provide a rigorous review of evaluations of education programmes in developing countries. This review is organised to provide guidance to policy-makers by identifying education interventions that are effective, sometimes effective, and not effective and by presenting some information on the cost effectiveness of different types of…

This study evaluates the effect of Florida's Bright Future Program on student college choices. We used regression discontinuity design to estimate the effect of two award levels, which had different SAT/ACT thresholds, on the probability of students choosing in-state public colleges and four-year public colleges. The most consistent and robust…

Despite increased attention paid to the advent and development of state merit scholarship policies (such as Georgia's Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) and some evidence that suggests differences in scholarship retention by socioeconomic status or other student characteristics, little empirical work has explored factors affecting…

This study examined the trends in enrollment numbers and academic quality of first-year Tennessee students on the merit-based portion of the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (TELS) upon HBCU's and religiously focused institutions in Tennessee from 2005-2014. The researchers hypothesized that the merit-based portion of the TELS was a…

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…

In this study, we investigate the impact of the Bright Futures Scholarship Program on college enrollment and degree production in Florida by using IPEDS enrollment, migration, and completion data. Results suggest large and significant enrollment effects at Florida's public 4- and 2-year institutions, for both full-time and part-time enrollment.…

In this dissertation, I offer two independent studies that each contribute to the literature on the college choices. The first paper examines the impact of Arizona's merit based scholarship on college enrollment decisions. I find that both enrollment and tuition and fees increased at Arizona's three large public institutions after the…

The purpose of this study was to determine the predictors of African-American enrollment at a private college. After a thorough literature review of college choice models, a set of quantitatively measured determinants were gleaned and identified for the statistical research and treatment. The set of predictors included high school grade point…

The increasing use by private colleges and universities of financial aid based on "merit", as opposed to based solely on financial need has caused many to raise concerns that this type of aid will go mainly to higher income students crowding out aid to lower income students. However, some analysts suggest that by attracting more "almost…

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…