The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of determining the existing and ideal perceived roles of college financial aid directors in Texas, the preparation of financial aid directors, the scope of their work, status, degree of job satisfaction, and attitudes toward selected financial aid concepts. A self-report questionnaire, which had been validated by a selected panel of financial aid directors, and for which reliability had been established by the test re-test method, provided the necessary data for the research report. Replies were received from more than seventy-five per cent of the financial aid directors in the colleges of Texas. Chapter I, Introduction, includes the subject of the study, purposes, research questions, background and significance, definition of terms, basic assumptions, instruments, and procedures for analysis of data. Chapter II is the review of related research. Chapter III gives procedures for collection and treatment of data. Chapter IV contains the report of the responses to the questionnaire, and Chapter V contains a summary of the findings, the conclusions reached, recommendations, and implications for further study.

Thesis advisor: Karen Arnold / Currently, there are nearly a million high-achieving, low-income students in the United States. In the nation's most selective institutions of higher education, students from low-income families have been persistently under-represented. Elite colleges, in particular, have only recently begun admitting low-income students in large numbers, a result of full need-based financial aid programs that began in the early 2000s as a way to attract a more socioeconomically diverse student body. This hermeneutic phenomenological study describes the lived experiences of these undergraduates and how they navigated a college environment historically reserved for wealthy students. Although participants initially expected to feel marginalized due to unfounded concerns of elitism, they formed friendships both within and across socioeconomic class divisions and described feeling integrated within the elite college. Participants developed self-protective narratives to compensate for their low-income backgrounds and employed strategies to make up for poor high-school preparation. Participants were grateful for the opportunity to attend an elite college and were proud and relatively forthcoming about their financial aid status because they considered it a reward for their intellectual ability. Three main conclusions derive from the findings of this research: Low-income students' tendency to make a distinction between socioeconomic and financial aid status; the notion of a new cultural capital hierarchy for high-achieving, low-income students within an elite college setting; and, a specific application of Bronfenbrenner's ecological developmental model for this niche population. The results of this study indicate that high-achieving, low-income students are flourishing in full need-based financial aid programs as a result of their own resilience and intellectual capital. Participants' experiences indicate that this population of undergraduates faces unique challenges and requires specific support services to equalize their opportunities vis-à-vis higher-income peers. From these findings, implications for colleges and universities and full need-based financial aid programs are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Administration and Higher Education.

The purpose of this study was to examine the financial nexus between college choice and persistence for full-time, first-time, first-year freshman college students. The theoretical framework of this study was the financial nexus construct developed by St. John, Paulsen, and Starkey (1996) and Paulsen and St. John (1997). This is the first study to apply the financial nexus construct to full-time, first-time, first-year freshman population; the first to examine baccalaureate/comprehensive and doctoral/research institutions in both public and private sectors separately. The results of this study found that (1) overall, it is slightly evident that there is a financial nexus between college choice and persistence among full-time, first-time, first-year freshman students; (2) the nexus between college choice and persistence may be different by the Carnegie Classification, and (3) the pattern of the direct effects of financial variables (i.e., tuition and financial aid) on persistence was different from the previous results. Unlike in the previous studies, tuition increases appeared to have a positive effect on the enrollment of full-time, first-time, first-year freshman students attending institutions of all Carnegie Classifications. The result suggests that price may reveal a "quality effect" and that higher tuition institution may signal higher quality. In both public and private institution students, students of comprehensive/baccalaureate institutions were more sensitive to tuition than those of research/doctoral institution. This result may raise fundamental questions about the tuition price responsiveness of full-time, first-time, first-year freshman students. The results indicate that public students were more sensitive to grants than private students. Also, students attending comprehensive/ baccalaureate institutions were more sensitive to grants than those of research/doctoral institutions in both sectors.

The study determined the overall persistence rate of first-time full-time entrants into a mid-sized private university during the fall semesters 1989 to 1991 to the 2nd year (1990 to 1992). The study compared the retention rate of recipients and nonrecipients of a variety of financial aid programs. Included is a comparison of groups receiving various types of financial assistance and whether or not there are differences between the groups with respect to types of assistance, gender, ethnicity (African American, Hispanic, Anglo), high school grade point average, and national test scores (SAT, ACT). The types of assistance studied were categorized by academic scholarships, university-operated student employment, need-based grants, activity awards, entitlements, and loans. The question of whether renewal, elimination, or reduction in assistance relates to retention was also studied.

Thesis advisor: Eve Spangler / Student debt affects a multitude of gifted and intelligent college students each year. In order to attend our nation’s premier universities, members of the lower and middle classes must procure loans which prove debilitating to their respective economic situations. Upon graduating, such financial burden ultimately forces these individuals to choose economic pragmatism over the pursuit of their true passions. This growing reality calls for a reexamination of the American system of higher education, particularly the underlying ideology behind it – the American Dream. Through an analysis of eight interviews and the use of supporting data, this study reflects the need for drastic reform. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 130-137). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1984. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 26, 2005. Dissertation Committee: John McCarthy (chair), Kenneth Strand, Edward Hines, Mary Ann Lynn, Dale Jackson. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-145) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D. in Leadership and Policy Studies)--Vanderbilt University, May 2006. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis advisor: Juliet Schor / This study aims to understand the prevalence and consequences of food insecurity among four-year undergraduate students at Boston College. It used an anonymous survey to collect data on students’ experiences making financial decisions about food and eating in the Fall of 2019. The final analytic sample consisted of 325 undergraduate students. The study found that roughly 13% of participants were characterized as experiencing food insecurity. Students who received high levels of financial aid and individuals who identified as first-generation college students were more likely to experience characteristics of food insecurity. Students experiencing food insecurity also reported a variety of social, emotional, behavioral, and academic consequences. This study finds that food insecurity is an issue at Boston College and suggests that faculty and administrators should urgently address students’ difficulties ensuring consistent access to food. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Sociology.

The role of community colleges is to provide educational opportunities to all segments of a population regardless of academic proficiency or economic ability. This openess admissions policy is meant to allow equal admission to academic and career-technical programs for all students. Due to openess admissions, economically disadvantaged community college students find themselves being admissible to community colleges with uncertain financial ability to pay for community college even though it is at a lower cost than 4-year institutions. Community college students historically face more financial and social barriers than 4-year students in attaining higher education and thus have a greater need for federal financial aid assistance. Students attending community colleges participate in federal grant-in-aid and student loan programs at a higher rate than any other type of institution. With this greater need for financial aid assistance, community college students are still held to the same federal financial aid academic standards. Students receiving federal financial aid must meet the same grade-point average, completion rate, and eligibility limit requirements as their university counterparts. These standards impact students at the community college level at an even higher rate than those at the university. The purpose of this study was to determine if students who do not meet federal financial aid academic standards and are placed on financial aid probation can be retained at the community college level using an online intervention course. The knowledge obtained from the course could facilitate the selection of optimal and cost-effective intervention strategies. Determination is necessary in order to eliminate current online intervention, adapt the intervention methods, or continue supporting intervention through allocating resources to the program that may allow for expansion and outcome inference to future student populations. This study specifically explored the retention of students who do not meet corresponding Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) indicators through the inclusion of an online intervention course. Student data were obtained from online course outcomes over multiple semesters from a community college in the Southern Region of the United States, yielding quantitative data for analysis. Educational opportunities tend to be viewed in a dramaturgical or symbolic perspective and viewed as successful based on student outcomes. It was assumed that student outcomes are tangible, and the link between means and ends are clear, meaning student outcome attainment equals employment and life success. In this instance, a return on investment study is not intended, but rather program effectiveness in influencing student outcomes. This program can be considered effective as it provides causation for increased performance, subsequent retention, and positive impact on financial aid status. The addition of an online intervention course supports causation linkage. It also supports the correlation of predicting post-semester cumulative grade point average (GPA), and the performance within the course provides inference to the participant’s future status.