Student Funding Research Articles

Weighting for progressivity? An analysis of implicit tradeoffs associated with weighted student funding in Tennessee

We study the progressivity of school district funding under Tennessee's weighted student funding formula. We propose a simple definition of progressivity based on the difference in exposure to district per-pupil funding between poor and non-poor students. The realized progressivity of district funding in Tennessee is much smaller—only about 17 percent as large—as the formula weights imply directly. The attenuation is driven by the mixing of poor and non-poor students within districts. We further show the components of the Tennessee formula not explicitly tied to student poverty are only modestly progressive.

The Unfulfilled Promise of Brown v. Board: white Americans’ Support for Public Education Funding for Black Students in the 21st Century

Abstract Seven decades after Brown v. Board, Black students continue to lag White students. This article analyzes six experiments conducted over three decades to study whether, consistent with social identity theory, White Americans are more supportive of funding increases for nonracially targeted educational programs that benefit their racial ingroup compared to race-targeted programs. We also ask whether racial prejudice is a factor, if implicit or explicit racial priming accounts for any observed differences, and if the effects have changed over time. Our results show that consistent with social identity theory, White Americans are more likely to favor funding increases for public schools or programs for poor children, categories that are majority White, than programs targeted to Black children. Furthermore, we find no evidence of implicit or explicit racial priming. Across all experiments and all years, interactions between racial priors and the treatments are null. We conclude that ingroup favoritism, not prejudice nor racial priming, explains racially discriminatory support for increases in education funding.

Impact of student funds and fellowships on climate change research and human well-being

Impact of student funds and fellowships on climate change research and human well-being Sophie Farmani, Assistant Professor, Arts, Communications and Social Sciences Department, at the University Canada West, charts the positive impact of student funds and fellowships on climate change research and human well-being in the Canadian context. With the rising complexity and prevalence of global challenges and their impact on society, it is more crucial than ever for social sciences, alongside technological advancements, to actively get involved in improving human well-being. Among the countries with a focus on research and innovation, Canada’s dedication and contributions to research surrounding climate change are noteworthy.

20 years of choices: a fight for increased funding for graduate students.

After 20 years of stagnation, federal scholarships have finally been increased within the new budget of the Canadian government. Tuition fees, inflation, and costs of living kept rising, which has resulted a rising number of graduate students in the life sciences living below poverty line, despite working far more than 40 h a week on science research in Canada. This does not only negatively affect the students research projects and thus science and innovation in Canada, but also their downstream decisions on whether to continue a research career in Canada and what jobs and economic endeavors to pursue. Graduate students are not just a line item in the budgets of universities, but integral for science and innovation, as well as the future high-quality personnel of the country. This importance should be reflected in all stipends and salaries of graduate students, not just the ones with a government scholarship.

Governmental student funding systems for higher education: an international perspective

The worldwide surge in demand for higher education (HE) aligns with an increasing need for effective student funding systems, particularly in countries where poverty poses a significant barrier to accessing HE. An international perspective on governmental student funding systems allows us to examine how other governments have implemented these systems to benefit their citizens. The aim of this article is thus to provide a global view of the functioning and challenges pertaining to student funding systems and to shed light on the policies in place in the international landscape. The realist systematic literature review methodology was deemed the most suitable for this study as various scholars have previously studied different facets of the topic. This study aligns with the interpretive research paradigm and qualitative methods. The desired information therefore already exists within the body of knowledge, although it has not yet been analyzed through this particular method. It is evident that both developing and developed countries experience challenges regarding student funding, both in the purpose thereof as well as in the implementation. This is a universal issue, and an in-depth literature review confirmed this phenomenon.

PhD Student Funding Patterns: Placing Biomedical, Biological, and Biosystems Engineering in the Context of Engineering Sub-disciplines, Biological Sciences, and Other STEM Disciplines

Whether doctoral students are funded primarily by fellowships, research assistantships, or teaching assistantships impacts their degree completion, time to degree, learning outcomes, and short- and long-term career outcomes. Variations in funding patterns have been studied at the broad field level but not comparing engineering sub-disciplines. We addressed two research questions: How do PhD student funding mechanisms vary across engineering sub-disciplines? And how does variation in funding mechanisms across engineering sub-disciplines map onto the larger STEM disciplinary landscape? We analyzed 103,373 engineering and computing responses to the U.S. Survey of Earned Doctorates collected between 2007 and 2016. We conducted analysis of variance with Bonferroni post hoc comparisons to examine variation in funding across sub-disciplines. Then, we conducted a k-means cluster analysis on percentage variables for fellowship, research, and teaching assistantship funding mechanism with STEM sub-discipline as the unit of analysis. A statistically significantly greater percentage of biomedical/biological engineering doctoral students were funded via a fellowship, compared to every other engineering sub-discipline. Consequently, biomedical/biological engineering had significantly lower proportions of students supported via research and teaching assistantships than nearly all other engineering sub-disciplines. We identified five clusters. The majority of engineering sub-disciplines grouped together into a cluster with high research assistantships and low teaching assistantships. Biomedical/biological engineering clustered in the high fellowships grouping with most other biological sciences but no other engineering sub-disciplines. Biomedical/biological engineering behaves much more like biological and life sciences in utilizing fellowships to fund graduate students, far more than other engineering sub-disciplines. Our study provides further evidence of the prevalence of fellowships in life sciences and how it stretches into biomedical/biological engineering. The majority of engineering sub-disciplines relied more on research assistantships to fund graduate study. The lack of uniformity provides an opportunity to diversify student experiences during their graduate programs but also necessitates an awareness to the advantages and disadvantages that different funding portfolios can bestow on students.

Challenging Neoliberal Global Capitalism in South African Higher Education Student Funding: A Decolonial Perspective

Challenging Neoliberal Global Capitalism in South African Higher Education Student Funding: A Decolonial Perspective

Insider perspectives on systematic provision of quality technical vocational education and training in Zimbabwean tertiary institutions

Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is defined as an educational process that focuses on the acquisition of practical skills, and an understanding of technologies and related sciences necessary for employment in a particular occupation or trade. The implementation of TVET is on the premise that students develop the requisite skills necessary to increase their employability and for the development of the economy through entrepreneurship. The study sought to ascertain the challenges and proffered strategies of attaining TVET programmes in Zimbabwean tertiary institutions. A qualitative approach was used, and a case study design employed. Two research questions guided the study. The data collection instruments were interviews, document analysis and focus group discussions. The participants were selected through purposive sampling. The study revealed the following challenges: lack of TVET training facilities, poor teaching methods, poor funding, deplorable facilities, and routine assessment of students' competencies. The following strategies were proffered: deliberate continual professional development of TVET lecturers, provision of adequate training facilities, and mobilisation of the requisite financial resources. It was recommended that central government, policymakers, and all TVET providers should deliberately focus on strengthening quality assurance in all the TVET tertiary institutions.

Distributing Zakatu Kasbil 'Amal as an Alternative to Student Funding, Evidence in Indonesia’s Universities

Background The purpose of this paper is to clarify the use of zakat as an alternative funding for students to pay their tuition fees. Apart from that, this paper also explains how zakat collected from muzakki fixed income known as zakatu kasbil 'amal, which is known as income zakat and is still controversial in Indonesia. Method The study uses a systematic literature review with an inductive approach to find out the theoretical basis of the research questions. The analysis uses a qualitative method that explores significant findings from various literature sources. The findings will combine with the exploration results of several universities in Indonesia that use social funds as a tool for helping students. Result The income zakat controversy mediates using the precautionary principle, which ensures that the projected income indeed exceeds the nisab (1 year) of the income. Some Islamic universities in Indonesia carry out this zakat withdrawal and even use an auto debit system. On the other hand, the distribution of zakat to students is also controversial because zakat is part of worship whose distribution is regulated into nine asnaf. Nevertheless, students may be equated with one of the asnaf so that it becomes permissible to be the subject of zakat distribution. Observation findings at Indonesian Islamic universities even show that the results of zakat distribution strongly influence the success of students’ studies, even if only in aid of tuition fees.

Promoting access to, and success in postgraduate education in South Africa: A synthesis of emerging issues

This article evinces that policies and plans at the national level in South Africa recognise the importance of postgraduate education within the broader national education and training system, and that they place particular emphasis on promoting access to, and success in postgraduate education as one of the priorities on the country’s development agenda. It identifies and discusses ten issues that have a bearing on the national policies, plans, programmes and initiatives aimed at promoting access to, and success in postgraduate education. These issues emerge from the analysis, triangulation, and interpretation of sets of information and data obtained from multiple projects focusing on postgraduate education, that the Council on Higher Education has implemented since 2018. They are therefore referred to as “emerging issues”. They include the relatively small size of the postgraduate component of higher education, the pyramidal structure of the distribution of students across the different levels of postgraduate education, and the offsetting of the increase in the numbers of graduates produced at all levels of postgraduate education, by a corresponding increase in the numbers of students taking longer to complete their studies than the periods stipulated by the institutions, and by relatively high dropout rates. Other issues are about transformation, student funding, inadequate supervisory capacity, under-preparedness of students, and lack of adequate support services for postgraduate students. The article sets the scene for, and context of the other articles contained in this special issue of the South African Journal of Higher Education, and prepares the readers to understand and appreciate the contents of those articles.

Factors Affecting Student Drop Out Behavior: A Systematic Review

Factors affecting student dropout behavior have been investigated overtime. A lot of factors came out to be affecting this prevalent concern in schools. However, in this study, a systematic review of peer-reviewed, empirical literature and studies published between 2015- 2023 was conducted to identify the common factors affecting student dropout behavior and interventions implemented to minimize dropout rates. This review specifically tackles two key issues: First, what are the common factors affecting student dropout behavior? Second, what are the common initiatives and or interventions in reducing student dropouts? A total of 12 studies were included in the review which passed the PRISMA diagram guidelines, Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist, and were organized using a literature matrix. Results showed that family, school, school/teacher, lack of guidance and counseling, social, individual, and socioeconomic factors were the common factors influencing student dropout behavior. Additionally, it showed that remedial programs addressing lack of interest, support and resources, improving the school's guidance program, offering mechanisms for support to counteract the impact of poverty, transportation and counseling services, increased funding for disadvantaged students, raising awareness of the consequences of pre-marital sex, enforcing school dropout policies, integrating sex education, and guaranteeing adequate resource availability were common interventions implemented to address these prevalent factors. The findings emphasized the importance of tailored and contextualized interventions in addressing the specific factors. Further research is needed to identify interventions that tailor-fit each factor to structure a more efficient and effective program to address issues related to student dropouts.

Discussion on the Ideological and Political Education for Poor College Students

At present, ideological and political education is significant for poor college students. The focus of funding for poor students has gradually transformed from providing economic support for them to ideological and spiritual help, which puts forward higher requirements on how to carry out ideological and political work. It also requires us to advance the work of ideological and moral education and put it in the most important position in the ideological and educational work for poor college students. Combined with the reality of poor college students, we will adhere to the idea of being student-oriented and endeavor to enhance the effectiveness, pertinence, and relevance of the work of ideological and political education. This paper analyzes the significance and problems of ideological and political education for poor college students and puts forward effective ways to solve the problems from the levels of ideology, cognition, and teaching staff.

OPTIMIZING WEIGHTED STUDENT FUNDING: IMPROVING EDUCATIONAL EQUITY FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS AND STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

This research examines the impact of Weighted Student Funding (WSF) on educational outcomes for English Learners (ELs) and students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Using data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), we applied Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) and Monte Carlo simulations to assess how variations in funding affect the provision of services and academic performance for these populations. The findings reveal a significant positive correlation between increased WSF allocations and improved outcomes for ELs and students with disabilities. The research fills a critical gap in the literature by providing robust empirical evidence on how targeted funding improves equity in education, offering concrete recommendations for policymakers based on the results

THE CHALLENGES CONFRONTED BY DIFFERENTLY-ABLED STUDENTS IN INCLUSIVE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION AT HIGHER LEVEL

The present study aimed to examine the challenges faced by differently-abled students in inclusive system of education at higher level. The sample size was 53 differently-abled students of three universities. Mode of data collection was survey to get responses from differently-abled students by questionnaire comprised 17 items. The first area of questionnaire explores attitudinal problems, the second area explore lack of facilities and third area of questionnaire explore the educational problems. Data from replies were entered into the statistical tool (SPSS) to examine challenges faced by students with disabilities in the inclusive higher education systems. For this purpose, statistical methods like mathematical mean, frequency, percent, standard deviation, crosstabs and Chi-Square were used. All participant agreed to give information about attitudinal problems, lack of facilities & educational problem faced by differently-abled students of universities. The result suggested that in order to support or accommodate the students with the differently-abled needs, the government and higher education institutions must create specific funding for special students to meet their educational requirements.

Evaluation of the National Student Funding Aid Scheme (NSFAS) Policy in South African Universities: Implications and Challenges

University education is regarded as the cornerstone of one’s development and transformation, and also for the state. The importance of financial support for a student to acquire university education cannot be ignored. In South Africa, the government offers a couple of funding schemes to support students who persuade their university studies. These include NSFAS, Funza Lushaka Bursary, National Research Foundation funds, etc. These funding schemes can fund students at different levels of study within universities, at undergraduate and post-graduate level. However, this study primarily looks at evaluating the NSFAS policy within South African universities with the aim of investigating the implications and challenges encountered. The study adopts secondary data to achieve its objective. Existing literature is consulted, particularly the scholarly published articles, journals, and published reports. Findings of the study prove that even though the NSFAS policy is doing good to support the poor students who need this funding scheme, however, there are some challenges that are constraining its success such as corruption, poor management, etc. The study recommends a couple of strategies to overcome these issues. The study recommends a constant review and monitoring of the NSFAS policy and its implementation, the appointment of competent and dedicated employees from the national government up to the university level, finding innovative ways of fighting money leakages.

Cataloging formal medical student surgical funding opportunities: A retrospective characterization

Representation of female surgical residents has slowly increased, but underrepresented in medicine (URiM) representation remains disappointingly low. National residency matching reports suggest that meaningful research experience improves surgical residency match success - therefore, formal funding opportunities and early mentorship for URiM medical students. In this study, we catalog medical student (MS) funding opportunities (funding type, eligibility by year, mission, compensation, length of commitment, number of awardees, and dollar investment amount per student) from 7 surgical departments (general surgery, thoracic surgery, vascular surgery, plastic surgery, otorhinolaryngology, orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery) within 196 US medical schools and 20 professional surgical educational organizations through manually searching web pages. We recorded 146 surgical funding opportunities from medical school surgical departments and 16 surgical funding opportunities from professional organizations. Overall, we find that medical institutions' surgical departments and professional surgical educational organizations may not be effectively utilizing recruitment strategies in MS funding opportunities.

Towards a Just Distribution of Student Funding to Youth with Learning Disabilities in Vocational Education and Training

The funding of higher-education students contributes to their skills development and renders them employable and self-sustainable. Research indicates that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) (a South African tertiary education government funding agency) has done remarkably well in funding a large number of students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue vocational training. Having noted that disability is an under-researched topic in the South African Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) context, the authors employed a qualitative critical discourse analysis (CDA) approach to analyse the tonal voice of the NSFAS policy text and generate a thematic depiction of its stance on the funding of persons with learning disabilities. A further review of 77 primary and secondary data sources was conducted to triangulate the findings drawn from the NSFAS policy text. The paper exposes the plight of youth with learning disabilities who, due to limited aptitude for academic learning, often languish on the periphery of the entrepreneurial and occupational worlds of work as observers or—if lucky enough to gain entry—serve as unaccredited (self-taught or naturally gifted) semi-skilled and secondary contributors to innovative ideas. Drawing on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 4 and Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach, the paper highlights the need for a funding policy that acknowledges: 1) the element of heterogeneity in disability; 2) the adoption of a funding eligibility criteria that ensure inclusion and equality for all; and, finally, 3) the need for the funding of learning programmes that accommodate diverse learning styles, developmental needs and knowledge consumption of youth with disabilities. It further advocates for broad-based youth development so that no young person—with or without a disability— lacks access to occupational training to ply a trade in the professional, artisanal, creative, or entrepreneurial realms of the knowledge economy.

Zakat Allocations and Student Welfare: A comparative study of first-time applicants and repeaters in Malaysia

Zakat institutions have observed that allocated funds for students were not being fully utilized each year. This raises questions about whether the students were not aware of the available funds or if the allocated funds were not suitable for their needs. First-timers were more likely to apply zakat for stationeries and paying for tuition fees while repeaters were more likely to pay tickets for public transports. The study's findings provide insight into the spending behavior of students who applied for zakat and can be used as a reference to justify fund allocation in universities.

Research on University Student Funding and Education Based on Collaborative Thinking

Research on University Student Funding and Education Based on Collaborative Thinking

Alabama

This year’s Alabama Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget of $8.1 billion is the largest in the state’s history. COVID-relief funds and a strong economy provided teacher pay raises and funded new programs aimed at improving reading and math performance. Supplemental appropriations are being used for technology advancements and other appropriations viewed as onetime expenses. Pressing issues include a teacher shortage that the state hopes to curtail by improving salaries and ensuring future budget stabilization should the economy weaken. The number of charter schools is gradually increasing, and it is expected that funding for students in schools other than public schools is likely to increase given the current push for school choice in the state. The largest percentage of the state’s ETF budget (68.50%) is allocated for K–12 schools with 25.51% to higher education and 6% to other earmarked programs.