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Testing means-tested aid

Murphy, Richard and Wyness, Gill (2015) Testing means-tested aid. CEP Discussion Paper (1396). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK.

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Abstract

Billions of pounds per year is spent on aid for poor students in HE systems around the world, yet there remains limited evidence on the causal effect of these payments, particularly on the intensive margin. This is an empirical challenge since student aid is correlated with characteristics which influence both college enrolment and achievement. We overcome these challenges by studying a unique form of non-linear means tested financial aid which is unadvertised, varies substantially across institutions, and is subject to shifts in generosity across cohorts. Using student-level administrative data collected from 10 English universities, we study the effects of aid receipt on college completion rates, annual course scores, and degree class, using fixed effects and instrumental variables methods. Our findings suggest that each £1,000 of financial aid awarded increases the chances of gaining a good degree by around 3 percentage points, driven by completion of the final year and course scores.

Item Type: Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL: http://cep.lse.ac.uk/
Additional Information: © 2015 The Authors
Divisions: Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
L Education > LA History of education
JEL classification: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education > I22 - Educational Finance
I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education > I23 - Higher Education Research Institutions
I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education > I28 - Government Policy
Date Deposited: 13 Apr 2016 08:45
Last Modified: 09 Apr 2024 10:57
Projects: ES/L000105/1
Funders: ESRC National Centre for Research Methods, University of Southampton
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/66060

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