Although various scholarship programs aim to alleviate the disparities that exist in accessing education among socioeconomic groups, the structure of the programs could affect the achievement of such a goal. Contributing to such an observation, Kash and Lasley (2011) examined how demographic and socioeconomic factors affect the utilization and retention rates in merit-based scholarships.
The study arose from criticism, cited by the authors in their literature review, that such merit-based programs could have a retrogressive effect in addressing the existing inequality in accessing higher education among different socioeconomic groups.
Accordingly, the authors hypothesised that the decline in socioeconomic status of schools would be positively associated with the level of utilization and retention rates in a broad merit-based scholarship program.
To test this hypothesis, the study used a convenience sample based on the data from the Kentucky Education Excellence Scholarship (KEES) awards. KEES uses two measures for assessing a student’s eligibility to receive initial and subsequent scholarship awards – “a base amount that is calculated from students’ high school GPAs and a supplemental amount based on students’ ACT scores” (Kash & Lashley 2011, p. 44).
The study’s independent variables included socioeconomic status of the schools (evaluated by the percentage of students receiving free lunches), race and gender. The authors hypothesised that changes in such independent variables would explain the changes in the two dependent variables (utilization and retention rates).
Utilization was defined as the number of students who claimed their scholarship in the initial year of eligibility, while retention was the number of such students’ who obtained the scholarship in subsequent years.
The study’s results indicated that socioeconomic status was positively correlated with utilization and retention rates of KEES awards. The utilization and retention rates of KEES declined significantly for students from schools with a low socioeconomic rating when compared with those with a high socioeconomic rating (Kash & Lashley 2011, p. 50).
Race and gender also influenced utilization and retention rates with Caucasian and female students having higher rates as compared to minority races and male students, respectively (Kash & Lashley 2011, p. 50). Following such observations, the authors concluded that merit-based scholarships enhanced the inequalities that existed in accessing higher education among socioeconomic groups.
The study’s contribution to the subject of foundation of scholarship is that it highlights the need for multiple criteria in selecting individuals who receive scholarships. The study highlights that basing scholarship on standard performance across different sections of society, may be ineffective in addressing inequalities existing in accessing learning opportunities in the community.
However, performance-based scholarship could have some positive effects. For instance, a study published by MDRC, a non-profit organization focusing on education and social-policy research, performance-based scholarship was shown to enhance enrolment of low-income groups in college, better their academic performance and increase their retention in college (Brock & Richburg-Hayes 2006).
Additionally, at the individual level, such scholarships could enhance leadership characteristics of high-achieving, low-income students and thus enhance their career and life opportunities (Hu 2011). Accordingly, scholarships intended to reduce inequity in accessing opportunities in society should encompass an assessment of students’ need and merit in their selection criteria (Schurtz 2004, pp. 460 – 462).
References
Broch, T. & Richburg-Hayes, L. 2006, Paying for persistence: early results of a Louisiana scholarship program for low-income parents attending a community college, MDRC. Web.
Hu, S. 2011, ‘Scholarship awards, student engagement, leadership capacity of high-achieving low-income students of colour’, The Journal of Higher Education, vol. 82, no. 5, pp. 511-534.
Schurtz, N. 2009, Education planning taxes, trusts, and techniques, American Bar association, Chicago, Illinois.