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The impact of merit-based financial aid on college enrollment: A field experiment

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  • Monks, James

Abstract

Merit-based financial aid awards have become increasingly prevalent in the pricing policies of higher education institutions. This study utilizes an experiment to estimate the efficacy of merit-aid awards in achieving the institutional objective of attracting the most academically desirable applicants. I find that merit aid has a statistically significant but inelastic effect on enrollment of extremely high ability students. Additionally, the setting of this paper allows for a test of whether students respond to the framing of price in making enrollment decisions (i.e. price illusion), holding net price constant. There is weak evidence in support of price illusion among this set of students.

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  • Monks, James, 2009. "The impact of merit-based financial aid on college enrollment: A field experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 99-106, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:28:y:2009:i:1:p:99-106
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    11. Bridget Terry Long, 2004. "Does the Format of a Financial Aid Program Matter? The Effect of State In-Kind Tuition Subsidies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(3), pages 767-782, August.
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    2. Damgaard, Mette Trier & Nielsen, Helena Skyt, 2018. "Nudging in education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 313-342.
    3. Denny, Kevin & Doyle, Orla & McMullin, Patricia & O'Sullivan, Vincent, 2014. "Money, mentoring and making friends: The impact of a multidimensional access program on student performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 167-182.
    4. Matthew Birch & Robert Rosenman, 2019. "How Much Does Merit Aid Actually Matter? Revisiting Merit Aid and College Enrollment When Some Students “Come Anyway”," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 60(6), pages 760-802, September.
    5. Brent J. Evans & Angela Boatman & Adela Soliz, 2019. "Framing and Labeling Effects in Preferences for Borrowing for College: An Experimental Analysis," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 60(4), pages 438-457, June.
    6. Nurnberg, Peter & Schapiro, Morton & Zimmerman, David, 2012. "Students choosing colleges: Understanding the matriculation decision at a highly selective private institution," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 1-8.
    7. James Dean Ward & Daniel Corral, 2023. "Resetting Prices: Estimating the Effect of Tuition Reset Policies on Institutional Finances and Enrollment," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 64(6), pages 862-892, September.
    8. Meneses, Francisco & Blanco, Christian, 2010. "Financial Aid and Higher Education Enrollment in Chile: A Government Policy Analysis," MPRA Paper 23321, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Li Han & Jiaxin Xie, 2015. "Can Conditional Grants Attract Better Students: Evidence from Chinese Normal Universities," HKUST IEMS Working Paper Series 2015-14, HKUST Institute for Emerging Market Studies, revised Mar 2015.
    10. Firoozi, Daniel, 2022. "The impact of post-admission merit scholarships on enrollment decisions and degree attainment: Evidence from randomization," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    11. Maria Ines Barbosa Camargo, 2015. "Efectos de los mecanismos de financiación en el acceso a la educación superior en Colombia," Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación volume 10, in: Marta Rahona López & Jennifer Graves (ed.), Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación 10, edition 1, volume 10, chapter 5, pages 115-134, Asociación de Economía de la Educación.
    12. Christopher Erwin & Melissa Binder, 2020. "Does Broad-Based Merit Aid Improve College Completion? Evidence from New Mexico's Lottery Scholarship," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(1), pages 164-190, Winter.
    13. Griffith, Amanda L., 2011. "Keeping up with the Joneses: Institutional changes following the adoption of a merit aid policy," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 1022-1033, October.

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