The Information Vacuum of College Costs: Urban High School Students' Response to Financial Aid Incentives

• In Event: 26.081 - Poster Session 3
  In Poster Session: 26.081-5 - College Student Access Poster Session

Abstract

Financial aid is one of the key interventions introduced to students and their families too late. There is growing evidence that “early commitment” programs like the Promise Scholarship are being implemented as an alternative to traditional financial aid programs. This qualitative study analyzes the data from a larger study, a randomized trail of a Promise Scholarship program in an urban school district. Through 48 semi-structured interviews with 24 students, this study seeks to understand how students in an urban district think about and understand the process of financing college. We also seek to understand how well Promise Scholarship recipients understand and think about the program. The findings have implications for research on financial aid policy and financial aid incentives.

Authors

• Maria Regina Figueiredo-Brown, East Carolina University

• Tangela Blakely Reavis, University of Wisconsin - Madison