May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.1 Factors Affecting Financial Aid Participation at a California Community College Research Presentation Prepared for the Association for Institutional Research Annual Conference, 2006, Chicago Andrew LaManque, Ph.D. De Anza College

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.2 Presentation Overview Research Question: Why do Financial Aid Participation Rates of Vietnamese Students Differ from Other Ethnic Groups (especially Latinos)? Why Do Students “Leave Money on the Table”? Information Might Help Financial Aid Staff Target Outreach Efforts Work in Progress! Suggestions Welcome

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.3 Outline of Presentation Overview of De Anza financial aid data by ethnic group Highlights of related research studies Results of questions from 2 surveys –De Anza Survey of Students Not Completing Financial Aid Forms –Noel Levitz College Student Inventory

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.4 Demographics of De Anza College’s Financial Aid Recipients In , of the 7,283 financial aid recipients, 21% were Vietnamese Vietnamese students represent about 8% (about 2,800 annually) of the campus headcount About 50% of Vietnamese students received some type of financial aid About 25% of Latino students receive financial aid

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.5 Demographics of De Anza College’s Financial Aid Recipients

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.6 Demographics of De Anza College’s Financial Aid Recipients 75% of all Vietnamese students lived in East San Jose (low income neighborhoods) in –53% of Latino students 77% of Vietnamese students receiving financial aid lived in East San Jose –59% of Latino students

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.7 Literature In , 53.6% of students at public two year colleges did not file a FAFSA –Table 5: Distribution of Undergraduates Who Did Not File a FAFSA for 2003– 04, by Dependency Status, Income, and Institution Type. Missed Opportunities Revisited: New Information on Students Who Do Not Apply for Financial Aid. ACE Issue Brief, Jacqueline E. King. February 2006 Rational Choice Theory considers the role of information – students collect information based on perceived benefits

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.8 Literature

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.9 Literature “ Low Income and first generation students may face significant barriers to accessing the information needed to make an informed decision …” –“The Effect of Loans on the Persistence and Attainment of Community College Students.” Alicia C. Dowd and Tarek Coury, Research in Higher Education. February, 2006 (v. 47, #1). “The data reported in this study show a pronounced tendency for low income Hispanic families to over-report actual income” –“Financial Aid and Self-Reports by Disadvantaged Students: The Importance of Being Earnest.” Michael A. Olivas, Research in Higher Education (v. 25, #3).

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.10 Survey of NonCompleters 976 Students ed in Winter 2006 –Had Filed FASA or BOG Forms But Did Not Complete Them 15% were Vietnamese 17% were Hispanic 135 Students Responded 13% were Vietnamese 10% were Hispanic

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.11 Survey of NonCompleters

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.12 Survey of NonCompleters No difference in reason for not completing between ethnic groups The students responding that they “Did Not Know it was Incomplete” were contacted by the financial aid office –Only a couple students acted on the call

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.13 Survey of NonCompleters

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.14 Survey of NonCompleters

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.15 Survey of NonCompleters Summary – these were all non-completers so the results are hard to interpret Vietnamese students though, seem to come from families with higher levels of college experience than Latino students

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.16 College Student Inventory The CSI was administered to a sample of basic skills math classes in fall 2005 and winter 2006 This data was then matched against financial aid files to see if a student had applied for aid (either FASA or BOG)

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.17 College Student Inventory

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.18 College Student Inventory

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.19 College Student Inventory

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.20 College Student Inventory

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.21 College Student Inventory

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.22 Next Steps Additional survey data More sophisticated statistical model Better integrate expected income measures (by Zip Code / Neighborhood) Look at other CC’s Discuss with campus financial aid staff

May 16, 2006Andrew LaManque, Ph.D.23 Summary Vietnamese students appear to have more family experience with college than Latino students as a group Although, Latino students apply for aid at lower rates than Vietnamese students, even when taking into account parents education and location The explanation (not captured by the data) is likely due to culture differences in the communities and perhaps differences in their immigration experience