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Merit aid with financial need requirements (for high school students)

Higher Education
  Literature review updated December 2016.

Students receive merit aid in college based on prior academic achievement, such as SAT/ACT scores or high school GPA. Programs included in this review also require students to meet financial need requirements (e.g. meet Pell eligibility) to be eligible to receive the scholarship. The thresholds for academic and financial eligibility vary across included programs but all recipients must exhibit academic merit and financial need. Scholarship programs reviewed include Gates Millennium Scholarship, Dell Scholars Program, Susan Thompson Buffet Foundation Scholarship, and California's Cal Grant.
 
ALL
META-ANALYSIS
CITATIONS

Meta-analysis is a statistical method to combine the results from separate studies on a program, policy, or topic to estimate its effect on an outcome. WSIPP systematically evaluates all credible evaluations we can locate on each topic. The outcomes measured are the program impacts measured in the research literature (for example, impacts on crime or educational attainment). Treatment N represents the total number of individuals or units in the treatment group across the included studies.

An effect size (ES) is a standard metric that summarizes the degree to which a program or policy affects a measured outcome. If the effect size is positive, the outcome increases. If the effect size is negative, the outcome decreases. See Estimating Program Effects Using Effect Sizes for additional information on how we estimate effect sizes.

The effect size may be adjusted from the unadjusted effect size estimated in the meta-analysis. Historically, WSIPP adjusted effect sizes to some programs based on the methodological characteristics of the study. For programs reviewed in 2024 or later, we do not make additional adjustments, and we use the unadjusted effect size whenever we run a benefit-cost analysis.

Research shows the magnitude of effects may change over time. For those effect sizes, we estimate outcome-based adjustments, which we apply between the first time ES is estimated and the second time ES is estimated. More details about these adjustments can be found in our Technical Documentation.

Meta-Analysis of Program Effects
Outcomes measured No. of effect sizes Treatment N Effect sizes (ES) and standard errors (SE) Unadjusted effect size (random effects model)
ES SE Age ES p-value
Graduate with 4-year degree
Graduate with a degree from a 4-year higher education institution.
 18 2 379 0.244 0.325 23 0.244 0.451
Enroll in 4-year college
Enroll in a 4-year higher education institution.
 18 4 13696 0.144 0.043 18 0.144 0.001
Enroll in 2-year college
Enroll in a 2-year higher education institution.
 18 1 991 -0.234 0.066 18 -0.234 0.001
College grade point average
Grade point average in a higher education institution.
 18 2 525 0.110 0.077 22 0.110 0.152
Persistence into 2nd year
Completion of the first year and re-enrollment in the second year of higher education in a 2- or 4-year institution.
 18 2 791 0.035 0.064 19 0.035 0.591
Persistence into 3rd year
Completion of the second year and enrollment into a third year of higher education in a 2- or 4-year institution.
 18 2 735 0.218 0.069 20 0.218 0.002
Persistence into 4th year
Completion of the third year and enrollment into a fourth year of higher education in a 2- or 4-year institution.
 18 2 578 0.139 0.091 21 0.139 0.128
Persistence into 5th year
Completion of a fourth year and enrollment into a fifth year of higher education in a 2- or 4-year institution.
 18 1 210 -0.041 0.158 22 -0.041 0.796

Citations Used in the Meta-Analysis

Angrist, J.D., Autor, D.H., Hudson, S., & Pallais, A. (2014). Leveling up: Early results from a randomized evaluation of post-secondary aid. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.

Boatman, A., & Long, B.T. (2016). Does financial aid impact college student engagement?: Evidence from the Gates Millennium Scholars program. Research in Higher Education, 57(6), 653-681.

DesJardins, S.L., & McCall, B.P. (2008). The impact of the Gates Millennium Scholars program on the retention, college finance- and work-related choices, and future educational aspirations of low-income minority students. Unpublished manuscript.

DesJardins, S.L., & McCall, B.P. (2014). The impact of the Gates Millennium Scholars Program on college and post-college related choices of high ability, low-income minority students. Economics of Education Review, 38(2), 124-138.

Kane, T.J. (2003). A quasi-experimental estimate of the impact of financial aid on college-going. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.

Page, L.C., Castleman, B.L., & Sahedewo, G.A. (2016). More than dollars for scholars: The impact of the Dell Scholars Program on college access, persistence and degree attainment. SSRN working paper.