Adoption of Merit-Based Student Grant Programs: An Event History Analysis

Abstract

As of 2005, 15 states had adopted a broad-based merit aid program, providing a combined $1.2 billion for college students on the basis of academic qualifications. This represents a shift away from a long tradition of need-based aid at the state and federal levels. This article utilizes a Cox proportional hazards model to analyze states’ characteristics that are associated with their probability of adopting a merit aid program. Lower levels of college continuation and educational attainment are found to increase the hazard for a state’s adoption of a merit aid program, whereas higher levels of student out-migration decrease the proportional hazard for a state’s adoption of such a program.

Student Aid and Its Role in Encouraging Persistence

“…John et al draw attention to the time-varying nature of explanatory factors of student persistence, noting that "changes over time in financial aid packages can influence students' academic and social integration processes, as well as their subsequent persistence decisions" (St. John et al, 2000a, p. 41). To address this need education scholars have begun applying event history analysis techniques developed in other fields to the study of persistence (Chen, 2008;DesJardins et al, 1994DesJardins et al, , 2002aDesJardins et al, , b, 2003Doyle, 2006).…”

Public entrepreneurs and the adoption of broad-based merit aid beyond the Southeastern United States

“…Researchers and news sources in education (e.g., Chronicle of Higher Education) also have identified the growing activist role that governors play in PK-12 and postsecondary education (Doyle, 2006;Heller, 2002;Henig, 2009;Johnson & Clark, 2003;McLendon, Heller & Young, 2005;Mokher, 2010;Richardson, Bracco, Callan & Finney, 1999;Selingo, 2001). McLendon, Heller and Young acknowledged that "governors may be performing the 'policy entrepreneur' role that research in other domains has shown is necessary for large-scale policy change to occur" (p. 372).…”

“…EHA has been utilized in political science and related fields (i.e., policy studies and public administration) to study a range of policies and programs, including the spread of state lotteries and tax reform (Berry & Berry, 1990, school choice, and other educational reforms (Mintrom, 1997;Mintrom & Vergari, 1998), dual enrollment policies (Mokher & McLendon, 2009), medical savings accounts (Karch, 2006), and e-government approaches to public administration (Jun & Weare, 2011). Most relevant to this study, Doyle (2006) examined the spread of merit aid across US states. His event history analysis indicated that, "no relationship was found between the number of states within a region adopting a program and the likelihood of policy adoption in a given state" (p. 277).…”

“…McLendon, Heller and Young acknowledged that "governors may be performing the 'policy entrepreneur' role that research in other domains has shown is necessary for large-scale policy change to occur" (p. 372). Doyle (2006) tested the impact of a governor's first year in office on the adoption of merit aid programs, initially suggesting this as a factor related to adoption, but when controls for factors were introduced (e.g., composition of upper house of the legislature), the relationship was inconsistent. Ness (2008) identified West Virginia's Governor Bob Wise as a key policy entrepreneur in establishing merit aid in his state.…”

“…The creation of Georgia HOPE and the leading role that Miller played have been widely acknowledged as the source of inspiration and innovation for the adoption of similar scholarships in other states (Doyle, 2006;Ness & Mistretta, 2009). These programs have been established as far south as Florida; north in Alaska; east in Massachusetts and west in Nevada (Dynarski, 2002(Dynarski, , 2004Heller & Marin, 2004;McLendon, Heller, & Young, 2005;Zhang & Ness, 2010).…”