Wealthy Often Win the Race for Merit-Based College Aid -Jay Mathews Corey Cox

Merit Scholarships Grants for students with good grades Family income of $40,000 or less ◦Merit scholarship increased 22% Family income of $100,000 or more ◦Merit scholarship increased 145%

Educators Sandy Baum ◦Economics professor at Skidmore College in N.Y. ◦College’s use of merit based aid encourages wealthy students and discourages low-income students ◦“…they are going to become places that are totally closed to low-income students.”

Educators Robert Massa ◦Vice President for enrollment at Dickson College ◦Reducing the number of merit scholarships  Other’s worried this would handicap them in the battle for prime undergraduates ◦Cut back merit scholarship recipients from 104 in 1999 to 64  Average SAT scores rose to 1274 and minority increased to 15%

New Programs HOPE Scholarships ◦$277 million in state lottery proceeds to students from 2000 to 2001 Other typical programs ◦1990s, more than a dozen states established broad-based merit ◦Students with “B” averages, were given tuition and fee money

Merit Scholarships vs. New Programs Merit programs more effective than need- based aid ◦Low-income students decreased enrollment because need-based scholarships require families to fill out difficult forms