Dive Brief:
- Free or low tuition doesn’t necessarily translate to more students participating in higher education, according to a new study.
- The study, by Ray Franke of the University of Massachusetts at Boston, shows that purely merit-based financial aid programs run the risk of widening the college attendance and graduation gap with low-income and minority groups.
- Higher tuition fees plus “robust” financial aid for lower income students may be the best model for schools to raise funds, in the face of declining public funding, while encouraging participation and graduation by students least likely to attend higher education.
Dive Insight:
The problem: Graduation rates vary widely, according to a student’s background, with about 34% of white students in the U.S. graduating with a bachelor’s degree by age 29, compared to 17% of African Americans and 11% of the Latino population. Franke argues that federal loan programs do not boost college completion or attendance rates, and they can actually lower chances of attendance, especially if they replace grant programs. Grants are effective in increasing attendance and graduation. But to improve the use of grant programs by low-income students, applications must be as simple as possible, and information should be provided to prospective students as early as middle school. Franke used two databases from the National Center for Education Statistics for his study.
