The Effect of State, Merit-Based Scholarships on Academic Quality: An Analysis of the HOPE Scholarship Program
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Authors
Eskey, Michael Thomas, Jr.
Issue Date
2013-06-24
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Merit-based scholarship , HOPE Scholarship Program , Peer Institution , Carnegie Classifications , Common Data Set , SAT 25th/75th Percentiles , Freshman Retention Rate , Six-year Graduation Rate , Freshman Acceptance Rate , Institutional Academic Quality , United States -- Georgia , United States--Education--Georgia
Alternative Title
Abstract
In the past three decades, over a dozen United States states have enacted state merit-based scholarship programs for students enrolling in higher education. Students are eligible to receive this award based on academic credentials, and must utilize these awards within their home state. The purpose of this study was to address how these state merit based scholarship programs affect academic quality of higher education institutions, specifically in Georgia, in relation to select peer institutions. Perceived academic quality was measured by employing tests of statistical significance, specifically Welch’s T-tests.
The differences between Georgia higher education institutions and their peer institutions were generally not statistically significant, although the vast majority of significant differences favored the peer institutions. The only area where the difference between the samples was positively correlated in the Georgia institutions’ favor was the entering freshman acceptance rate. These findings have implications for the viability of Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship at accomplishing its advertised goals.
Description
A Capstone project by Michael Thomas Eskey, Jr.