The Obama administration has no plans to renew the Bush-era competitiveness grants and their companion, the National Smart Grants, beyond their 2011 expiration date, meaning a likely end for America's short-lived experiment with merit-based federal financial aid. Instead, the administration will focus its resources on the popular Pell Grant program, which is strictly need-based. Normally, efforts to end student-aid programs face fierce resistance from colleges. This time, though, hardly anyone is complaining. Created by Congress in 2006, the two programs have been an administrative nightmare for financial-aid officers, have never met participation targets, and have been criticized in Washington by Democrats and Republicans alike. Still, the programs' few supporters say the merit-based grants have encouraged low-income school districts to offer challenging courses, raising academic standards at a time when many students are ill-prepared for college. Rather than dropping the merit-based aid programs, contends one recipient, the Obama administration should improve them.