The Effects of Financial Aid on College Success of Two-Year Beginning Nontraditional Students

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• 作者：Jin Chen ; Don Hossler
• 关键词：Nontraditional students ; Two ; year institutions ; College success ; Event history analysis ; Propensity score approach
• 刊名：Research in Higher Education
• 出版年：2017
• 出版时间：February 2017
• 年：2017
• 卷：58
• 期：1
• 页码：40-76
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Humanities, Social Sciences and Law
• 刊物主题：Higher Education;
• 出版者：Springer Netherlands
• ISSN：1573-188X
• 卷排序：58

文摘

This study aims to understand the role of financial aid in college success of two-year beginning nontraditional students. By applying discrete time event history models with propensity score covariate adjustment to a nationally representative sample from BPS: 04/09, this study answers research questions centering around the effects of Pell Grants, subsidized student loans and unsubsidized student loans on six-year college outcomes of nontraditional students (i.e. degree attainment, system departure, and continuous enrollment without a degree). The results of this study suggest that these nontraditional students were most likely to drop out in the third college year and that all three types of financial aid appeared effective for reducing dropout risks, but not for encouraging timely degree completion. These findings have significant implications for policy and practice including the necessity for considering the complexity of nontraditional student pathways, backgrounds and unique needs when designing and implementing financial aid policy. The findings also contribute to discussions on ways to fund nontraditional students and provide recommendations for institutions serving large populations of nontraditional students to promote persistence to graduation.