Since the early nineties, a dozen states have established broad-based merit aid programs. The typical program waives tuition and fees at public colleges and universities in one's home state. Unlike traditional merit programs, such as the National Merit Scholarship, this aid requires relatively modest academic performance and provides scholarships…

The Maryland Higher Education Commission conducts annual surveys of talented Maryland high school seniors to learn about their college plans. This report focuses on the results of the survey of high ability students who graduated from a Maryland high school in the spring of 1998. Survey participants were asked to identify the postsecondary…

Each year, the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP) completes a survey regarding state-funded expenditures for postsecondary student financial aid. This report, the 36th annual survey, represents data from academic year 2004-05. Data highlights of this survey include: (1) In the 2004-2005 academic year, the states…

This report presents statistical data on admission and in-course merit scholarships awarded to full-time undergraduate students at Ontario universities. Highlights include: (1) 16 percent of the first-year entering class received admission scholarships and 9 percent of the upper-year class received in-course scholarships; (2) females received more…

Mr. Fay Vincent, former Commissioner of Major League Baseball and Executive Vice President of The Coca Cola Company, provides a crisp, concise assessment of a trend that has worried us for quite a while: the growing trend of rewarding academically-gifted and typically-affluent students with an extra dose of merit aid, often at the expense of…

A survey of student services staff, merit scholarship recipients, and a sampling of administrators, faculty, and students at a large land-grant institution concerning no-need scholarships shows the aid is seen as useful and monies used for it should not reduce amounts available for need-based scholarships. (MSE)

Reflections on the profession of admissions officer include the need for sharing of information within the profession, the admissions officer as enrollment manager, the role of intercollegiate athletics, and merit scholarships. (MSE)

Examines differences in retention rates and college grade point average of academic scholarship and leadership scholarship students. Results indicate no significant difference in college grade point average, however leadership scholars achieved higher retention rates. Results suggest that predictors of college involvement may be indirect…

Discusses data that indicate that students' academic promise is increasingly influencing even the amount of "need-based" aid they receive, signaling that families' demonstrated financial need is of less importance than they may expect when they fill out all those financial aid forms. (EV)

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 directory lists over 1,200 merit and other no-need funding and scholarship programs open to students in college and students returning to college for their higher education in the United States. The programs are classified according to course of study in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, or any subject area. Programs reward…

The award of no-need or merit scholarships and the effect on college choice are discussed. No-need scholarships are increasingly being used to draw students to the teaching profession, provide financial aid, and to recruit students who are academically and athletically talented. When these awards attract bright students to campuses, they can help…

This study examined the relationship between students' socioeconomic characteristics and qualification for a merit scholarship in a new, state-run program. The Michigan merit award scholarship program provides scholarships of up to $2,500 for students who score at Level 1 or 2 of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program High School Tests.…

Each year, the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP) completes a survey regarding state-funded expenditures for postsecondary student financial aid. This report, the 34th annual survey, represents data from academic year 2002-03. Data highlights include: (1) In the 2002-03 academic year, the states awarded about…

Each year, the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP) completes a survey regarding state-funded expenditures for postsecondary student financial aid. This report, the 35th annual survey, represents data from academic year 2003-04. Data highlights include: (1) In the 2003-2004 academic year, the states awarded about…