Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Reilly, Jack

Area of Concentration

Political Science

Abstract

The recent history of higher education in the United States is often cast as a soaring improvement as more and more students enroll in college. However, not every student is afforded the same opportunities in life and more so in financial aid process. Students face significant barriers in the enrollment and attendance process. A significant portion of the student population relies on financial aid received after completing the FAFSA. This paper analyzes the behaviors of different financial aid distributors towards various groups. The analysis looks at federal, state and institutional actors at the aggregate level to see how disbursement changes according to group. The student groups of students being examined are based on race, gender, effective family contribution (EFC), institutional selectivity and grade point average (GPA). The analysis is performed on Powerstats, a data tool provided by the US Department of Education, on the National Post-Secondary Student Award Survey (NPSAS). The paper attempts to show that distributors have different behaviors depending on groups of that are being funded. These behaviors are motivated by the type of distributor and their goals for students. Findings show that federal actors aim to distribute aid to as many students as possible while institutions attempt to attract the brightest students with merit based aid. States tended to follow the trends of institutions in regards to GPA and institutional selectivity but show minimal results for other categories. The literature proposes significant changes to the funding of higher education as well as improving the enrollment and application processes to resolve such issues.

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