The Effects of State Merit Aid Programs on Attendance at Elite Colleges

Arbeitspapier

State merit aid programs have been found to reduce the likelihood that students attend college out-of-state. Using the U.S. News & World Report rankings of colleges and universities to measure college quality and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System data to measure enrollment, we explore how this reduction in out-of-state enrollment differs by the academic quality of the institution. Our results suggest that state merit aid programs do not reduce the likelihood that a student attends a top ranked school, but that these programs do reduce the likelihood of enrolling at less prestigious out-of-state schools, with generally larger effects the lower the ranking of the schools.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 9371

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Household ; Educational Finance; Financial Aid ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
• Subject: merit aid ; college choice ; college quality ; elite college

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Sjoquist, David L. ; Winters, John V.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2015

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/124878
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET