Student Financial Aid and Persistence in College

Abstract

Student financial aid programs have become an increasingly important component of the financing of higher education. The National Task Force on Student Aid Problems has noted that the total amount of financial assistance to students in postsecondary has increased sixty-six times in the past twenty years. In addition, the National Commission on the Financing of Postsecondary Education stated that financial aid appears to be the fastest growing form of federal support for postsecondary education [18, p. 114]. The total appropriation for student aid in the 1978 fiscal year was in excess of $3.7 billion [8]. In order to assess the effects of student aid, a brief overview of the policy goals of aid programs will be useful. While the goals of student aid programs have not always been well specified, there have been significant changes in the apparent goals during the development of aid programs. At their inception the primary purpose was manpower development in the area of teaching. During the War on Poverty era, goals changed to emphasize the reduction of financial barriers to college entrance for students from low income backgrounds as an avenue