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…

During the last third of the twentieth century, Christian schooling in the United States was typically identified with the growing conservative, evangelical Protestant movement of that time period. After several United States Supreme Court cases had effectively secularized public schooling by the mid-1960s, the American educational landscape was…

The effect of Rutgers University's merit-based scholarship program on attracting talented students, students' experiences at the university, and the provision of high quality education was studied. The university merit awards fell into four categories: Rutgers Presidential Scholar Award, five National Merit and five National Achievement…

This study provides insight into selected factors which affect choice of teaching as a career as well as choice of a college. Sixty-one percent of the 142 high school students in the sample who marked teaching as their planned career indicated that scholarships were "very important" to career choice. Thirty-two percent indicated that it was…

A study examined the probability that students would apply to or attend Southwest Missouri State University without a freshman no-need scholarship, prospective students' awareness of these and other scholarships, the relative importance students attach to the scholarship, and the recruiting potential of the scholarship in various amounts. (MSE)

This is a collection of papers from a 2001 symposium at Harvard University entitled "State Merit Aid Programs: College Access and Equity." After a Foreword by Gary Orfield, the seven papers are (1) "State Merit Scholarship Programs: An Introduction" (Donald E. Heller); (2) "Merit Scholarships and College Access: Evidence…

Georgia's merit-based HOPE scholarships, which cover tuition and fees for over half the undergraduates at the University of Georgia, are credited for bringing better students to the university but also for bringing pressure for grade inflation to the institution. Recipients must maintain a B grade average. The university has become competitive…

A common justification for state-sponsored merit scholarships like Georgia's HOPE program is to promote academic achievement. However, grade-based retention rules encourage other behavioral responses. Using longitudinal records of enrolled undergraduates at the University of Georgia between 1989 and 1997, we estimate the effects of HOPE on…

Many colleges and universities provide grant aid to undergraduates to help them pay for all or part of the tuition and fees charged by the institution. This study provides information about recent trends in institutional aid receipt and then examines the relationship between such aid and the likelihood of recipients staying enrolled in the…

The "Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005" created two new grant programs for undergraduates: the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) program and National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (National SMART) Grant program. The ACG program is intended to encourage students to take challenging courses in high school and thus…

Recent research indicates a trend toward increases in the share of all institution-based student aid funds going to merit aid and in merit scholarship competition among institutions. This paper presents findings of a study that surveyed 379 nonprofit bachelors'-degree-granting institutions in 1983-84 and 1991-92. Findings indicate that the less…

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…