Not whether, but where? Pell grants and college choices

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Carruthers, Celeste K.; Welch, Jilleah G.
• 署名单位: University of Tennessee System; University of Tennessee Knoxville; University of Tennessee System; University of Tennessee Knoxville
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2018.11.006
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 1-19
• 关键词: Education policy; Higher education; Financial aid

摘要

Pell grants are the largest financial aid vehicle in the United States, and yet, their role in shaping students' college choices is not clear. Drawing on the enrollment decisions of four cohorts of Tennessee high school graduates and quasi-experimental Pell eligibility derived from federal formulas, we find little evidence that marginal Pell eligibility affects whether or where students enroll in college. Inframarginal estimates suggest that students sort into colleges with 11.6 cents higher tuition per dollar of Pell aid, although other measures of college quality do not significantly improve over the counterfactual. An investigation into mechanisms that might be muting student responses to Pell favors the application process itself over grant size or institutional aid flexibility. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.