Describes how Rhodes scholarships and other prestigious awards, once dominated by the Ivy League, are going to other colleges. Winning institutions are employing special advisers and programs to prepare competitors and lure top students and big donors. (EV)

Discussion of the increasing price competition in higher education provides tables, graphs, and analyses of the higher education market and examines implications of offering attractive financial aid packages to better students. Finds price competition results in a greater concentration of talented students at high-resource schools and declining…

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…

The Secretary is adopting as final, with changes, interim final regulations in: 34 CFR part 691 for the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) and National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant) programs; 34 CFR part 668 (Student Assistance General Provisions); and 34 CFR part 690 (Federal Pell Grant Program).…

The author provides general information on scholarships for students with academic, artistic, and athletic talents. Topics covered include (1) early planning, (2) sources of scholarship information, (3) recruiters, (4) school and other sources of aid, (5) the campus visit, and (6) alternatives to scholarships. A list of references is attached. (CH)

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…

The 57 colleges and universities enrolling the most freshman Merit Scholars named in 1989 are listed, with the total number of Merit Scholarship winners and the number whose scholarships were paid for by the institution. Overall, 6,290 freshman Merit Scholars were enrolled, 3,228 at private and 2,652 at public institutions. (Author/MSE)

The Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (TELS) program was designed to meet the unique needs of the state of Tennessee by 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 address the…

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…

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 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…

Explores how, while there are fears that the new emphasis on merit-based aid comes at the expense of aid to the most needy students, evidence suggests that it has not yet jeopardized need-based aid although it is clearly rapidly increasing. (EV)

Discusses how a long recession will increase students' need for financial assistance, but that unfortunately, institutions are unlikely to cut back on merit aid to do more for the neediest students. (EV)

Analyzes demographic and financial trends affecting future student financial aid needs and considers some possible solutions, including expanding definitions of merit awards to include nondirect inducements for top high school students, prepaid tuition plans sponsored by the federal government, and using information technology to store and…

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…