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The effect of financial aid on first-time college attendance decisions in a land grant university
Abstract
The purpose of conducting this study was to develop and test a logistic regression model for assessing the effect of financial aid in various forms on the first-time college attendance decision that a potential student made to enroll in or not to enroll in a comprehensive land-grant university in the Mid-west. Grounded in sociological theory on educational attainment, economic theory on student demand, and policy research on student choice, the model used in this study viewed the first-time attendance decisions as a function of three major factors: (1) social background, (2) academic achievements, and (3) student financial aid in various forms. Each factor contained a set of related variables defined as independent variables. The outcome variable was a dichotomous variable, attendance decision (enroll or not enroll). Echoing the recommendations by St. John (1992) on creating workable models for institutional research on financial aid study, this study developed and tested four versions of the logistic regression model to assess the effect of financial aid on first-time attendance using the sequential logistic regression analysis. In addition, a chi-square test of independence and Cramer's V correlation were also employed to define the pattern of how financial aid was distributed to allow for more in-depth analysis of the financial aid effects. The methods of assessing and interpreting the logistic regression model were also discussed. The major findings from the study included: (1) None of the variables related to social background and academic achievement factors were found statistically significant across any of the analytical steps in any of the versions of the model analyses. (2) Nine out of eleven aid variables tested were statistically significant and eight out of nine significant aid variables were positively associated with first-time attendance. (3) Receipt of any aid increased the probability of first-time attendance by 40 percentage points. (4) Each $1,000 increase in aid money increased the probability of first-time attendance by 2 percentage points. (5)~Each \$1,000 increase in grant money increased the probability of first-time attendance by 2 percentage points. Each $1,000 increase in loan money increased the probability of first-time attendance by 3 percentage points. Each \$1,000 increase in work-study money decreased the probability of first-time attendance by 6 percentage points. (6) Grants alone increased the probability of first-time attendance by 36 percentage points. Loans alone increased the probability of first-time attendance by 39 percentage points. Grant and loan combination increased the probability of first-time attendance by 43 percentage points. Grant, loan, and work-study combination increased the probability of first-time attendance by 37 percentage points. Neither grant and work-study combination, nor loan and work-study combination were found effective in promoting first-time attendance. The recommendations for the further research included: (1) how to better determine the linkage of financial aid distribution and the effects of financial aid, (2) how to improve the predictive power of the logistic regression model, and (3) how to factor the tuition, economic and job marketing factors in the model.
Subject Area
Higher education|School finance
Recommended Citation
Cheng, Haining, "The effect of financial aid on first-time college attendance decisions in a land grant university" (1997). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9725114.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9725114