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Does the Format of a Financial Aid Program Matter? The Effect of State In-Kind Tuition Subsidies

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  • Bridget Terry Long

    (Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, and NBER)

Abstract

This paper examines the importance of format in aid programs, focusing on state appropriations to public postsecondary institutions. These funds subsidize costs for in-state students, but they may also influence choices between institutions due to their in-kind format. Using the conditional logistic choice model and extensive match-specific information, the paper approximates the choice between nearly 2700 college options to examine the effect of several dissimilar state systems. The results suggest that the level and distribution pattern of subsidies strongly affect decisions. If the aid could instead be applied to any in-state college, up to 29% more students would prefer to attend private four-year colleges. © 2004 President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:86:y:2004:i:3:p:767-782
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    Cited by:

    1. Eric P. Bettinger & Bridget Terry Long, 2009. "Addressing the Needs of Underprepared Students in Higher Education: Does College Remediation Work?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(3).
    2. Eric Bettinger & Oded Gurantz & Laura Kawano & Bruce Sacerdote, 2016. "The Long Run Impacts of Merit Aid: Evidence from California’s Cal Grant," NBER Working Papers 22347, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Schmidt, Alejandro & Ortúzar, Juan de Dios & Paredes, Ricardo D., 2019. "Heterogeneity and college choice: Latent class modelling for improved policy making," Journal of choice modelling, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    4. Dickson, Lisa & Pender, Matea, 2013. "Do in-state tuition benefits affect the enrollment of non-citizens? Evidence from universities in Texas," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 126-137.
    5. Broner, Fernando A. & Gaston Gelos, R. & Reinhart, Carmen M., 2006. "When in peril, retrench: Testing the portfolio channel of contagion," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 203-230, June.
    6. Page, Lindsay C. & Scott-Clayton, Judith, 2016. "Improving college access in the United States: Barriers and policy responses," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 4-22.
    7. Adam Altmejd & Andrés Barrios-Fernández & Marin Drlje & Joshua Goodman & Michael Hurwitz & Dejan Kovac & Christine Mulhern & Christopher Neilson & Jonathan Smith, 2021. "O Brother, Where Start Thou? Sibling Spillovers on College and Major Choice in Four Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(3), pages 1831-1886.
    8. Andrés Barrios-Fernández, 2022. "Neighbors' Effects on University Enrollment," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 30-60, July.
    9. Mulyaningsih, Tri & Dong, Sarah & Miranti, Riyana & Daly, Anne & Purwaningsih, Yunastiti, 2022. "Targeted scholarship for higher education and academic performance: Evidence from Indonesia," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    10. Mikołaj Czajkowski & Tomasz Gajderowicz & Marek Giergiczny & Gabriela Grotkowska & Urszula Sztandar-Sztanderska, 2020. "Choosing the Future: Economic Preferences for Higher Education Using Discrete Choice Experiment Method," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 61(4), pages 510-539, June.
    11. Rajashri Chakrabarti & Joydeep Roy, 2013. "Merit Aid, Student Mobility, and the Role of College Selectivity," Staff Reports 641, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    12. Hurwitz, Michael & Goodman, Joshua Samuel & Smith, Jonathan & Fox, Julia, 2015. "The relationship between siblings’ college choices: Evidence from one million SAT-taking families," Scholarly Articles 22805380, Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
    13. 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.
    14. Hashem Dezhbakhsh & John A. Karikari, 2010. "Enrollment At Highly Selective Private Colleges: Who Is Left Behind?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 28(1), pages 94-109, January.
    15. Bridget T. Long, 2004. "The Impact of Federal Tax Credits for Higher Education Expenses," NBER Chapters, in: College Choices: The Economics of Where to Go, When to Go, and How to Pay For It, pages 101-168, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Pertti Haaparanta & Ravi Kanbur & Tuuli Paukkeri & Jukka Pirttilä & Matti Tuomala, 2022. "Promoting education under distortionary taxation: equality of opportunity versus welfarism," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(2), pages 281-297, June.
    17. Christopher Neilson & Adam Altmejd & Andres Barrios-Fernandez & Marin Drlje & Dejan Kovac, 2019. "Siblings' Effects on College and Major Choices: Evidence from Chile, Croatia and Sweden," Working Papers 633, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    18. Goodman, Joshua & Hurwitz, Michael & Smith, Jonathan, 2014. "Sibling (Non) Rivalry: The Relationship between Siblings' College Choices," Working Paper Series rwp14-028, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    19. Lindsay C. Page & Judith Scott-Clayton, 2015. "Improving College Access in the United States: Barriers and Policy Responses," NBER Working Papers 21781, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Eric Bettinger & Bridget Terry Long, 2004. "Shape Up or Ship Out: The Effects of Remediation on Students at Four-Year Colleges," NBER Working Papers 10369, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. George B. Bulman & Caroline M. Hoxby, 2015. "The Returns to the Federal Tax Credits for Higher Education," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(1), pages 13-88.
    22. Niu, Sunny Xinchun & Tienda, Marta & Cortes, Kalena, 2006. "College selectivity and the Texas top 10% law," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 259-272, June.
    23. Bridget Terry Long, 2014. "The Financial Crisis and College Enrollment: How Have Students and Their Families Responded?," NBER Chapters, in: How the Financial Crisis and Great Recession Affected Higher Education, pages 209-233, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Gary T. Henry & Kevin C. Bastian & C. Kevin Fortner & David C. Kershaw & Kelly M. Purtell & Charles L. Thompson & Rebecca A. Zulli, 2014. "Teacher Preparation Policies and Their Effects on Student Achievement," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(3), pages 264-303, July.
    25. Berens, Johannes & Henao, Leandro & Schneider, Kerstin, 2024. "Tuition fees and academic (in)activity in higher education: How did students adjust to the abolition of tuition fees in Germany?," Ruhr Economic Papers 1074, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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