Understanding how low-income students respond to institutional financial aid guarantees : a case study analysis / Jodi H. Buyyounouski.

Format:

Book

Manuscript

Microformat

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Buyyounouski, Jodi H.

Contributor:

Perna, Laura W., advisor.

University of Pennsylvania.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Penn dissertations--Education.

Education--Penn dissertations.

Higher Education--Penn dissertations.

Penn dissertatons--Higher Education.

Local Subjects:

Penn dissertations--Education.

Education--Penn dissertations.

Higher Education--Penn dissertations.

Penn dissertatons--Higher Education.

Physical Description:

viii, 123 pages ; 29 cm

Production:

2010.

Summary:

Higher education has become a necessary component for future achievement and success as college degree attainment is linked to social and economic mobility. Even with comparable qualifications and abilities, however, high-income students continue to be more likely to earn a bachelor's degree than their low-income peers. For low-income students, inadequate finances persist as one of the primary barriers to college. Nonetheless, public policy decisions since the 1990s have shifted from providing low- income students with the necessary financial means for pursuing higher education to easing the financial burden for higher-income families. Although the federal government supplies funding to low-income students via the Pell Grant program, the purchasing power of the grant has declined as funding has not kept pace with tuition increases.

Perhaps in recognition of the inadequacy of federal financial aid, since the late 1990s, about 50 private and public institutions have responded to the economic needs of low-income students by offering their own financial aid guarantee programs. In essence, these programs eliminate the loan component from the financial aid package and replace it with grant money, thereby making a college education affordable for low-income families.

Employing qualitative case study methods, this dissertation explores how low-income high school students construe and respond to the financial aid guarantee program that is sponsored by one public institution. This study addresses the following two guiding questions: How do low-income high school students learn about, understand and consider such programs? How does an institutional financial aid guarantee program influence low-income high school students' college-going behaviors?

In order for an institutional financial aid guarantee program to have an impact on students' behaviors, knowledge of the program is a prerequisite. While the data gathered in this study suggest that an institutional financial guarantee program has the potential to influence low-income high school students, knowledge of the program was not present during the search phase of the students' college processes. The findings of this study not only illuminate the role of financial aid and financial concerns in the college-going processes for low-income students, but also demonstrate the ways institutional programs can potentially increase access for low-income students.

Notes:

Adviser: Laura W. Perna.

Thesis (Ed.D. in Education) -- University of Pennsylvania, 2010.

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

University Microfilms order no.: 3421857.