Incentives and Existing Stratification: Social Capital, College Planning, and a Promise Scholarship Program

• In Event: Demystifying Financial Aid in Higher Education

Abstract

Promise scholarships have spread nationwide in the last decade as policymakers aim to reduce educational achievement gaps that have intensified as a result of increases in higher education costs. More research is needed to understand how financial aid policies, including the free college initiatives in states such as New York, impact participating students. The purpose of this study is to better understand how students in a public urban school district gain access to college social capital within the context of a promise scholarship policy experiment. Based on qualitative data from student interviews, we seek to unpack how students obtain concrete information and other forms of support that can help them navigate the complicated systems of college access and financial aid.

Authors

• Raquel Farmer-Hinton, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

• Tait Kellogg, Tulane University