Description
Book SynopsisStudent aid in higher education has become a hot-button issue. This work explains how both colleges and governments are struggling to cope with a rapidly changing marketplace, and shows how sound policies can help preserve the strengths and remedy some emerging weaknesses of American higher education.
Trade Review"Confusion and apprehension often drive families into the arms of private counselors, who offer, for a price, to help them master the [student aid] system. They would be well advised to save their money and consult McPherson and Schapiro instead."--Donald Kennedy, Atlantic Monthly "Because they are primarily interested in how federal policy might more effectively open the doors to college for low-income youth, McPherson and Schapiro, like good economists, analyze the effects of financial-aid programs on the incentives of colleges and parents, and anticipate the impact of recent changes in the tax code on colleges' tuition and aid policies."--Harvard Magazine
Table of ContentsFigures and TablesForewordAcknowledgmentsPt. 1Introduction11Meeting Need and Rewarding Talent: Student Aid in the U.S. System of Higher Education Finance52Changing the Rules: The New Strategic Role of Student Aid15Pt. 2Student Aid and Educational Opportunity: Are We Keeping College Affordable?233Prices and Aid: The Growing Burden on Families254Access: Student Response to Higher Prices - and Higher Returns375Choice: How Ability to Pay Affects College Options426The Future of College Affordability49Pt. 3Student Aid and Institutional Strategy537Student Aid in Institutional Finance558How Government Aid Shapes Colleges' Behavior819Student Aid as a Competitive Weapon91Pt. 4The Special Case of Merit Aid10510Merit Aid: Its Place in History and Its Role in Society10711The Institutional Perspective11612The Student Perspective12213Conclusion: Merit Aid - Good or Bad?130Pt. VThe Future of Student Aid13314Where Do We Go from Here?135Notes145Bibliography153Index157
