College prices have risen at a dramatic pace, with tuition increasing over 200% since 1989. Federal and state aid programs have
long provided support to students' efforts to cover the costs of college; however, some argue that aid programs inadvertently contribute
to pricing increases, suggesting that institutions leverage financial aid programs by raising prices to capitalize on the guaranteed
revenue from aid programs. The purpose of this study is to determine what effect state-sponsored, merit-based scholarships have on higher
education pricing. The study examines the implementation of and subsequent changes to Florida's Bright Futures Scholarship Program at
public and private four-year institutions. Grounded in Revenue Theory of Costs and Neo-institutionalism, this study approaches Bright
Futures with the assumption that institutions constantly seek new revenue to spend all their revenue on educationally-purposeful
activities that increase institutional prestige. Using data from IPEDS, the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and other
sources, this study uses difference-in-differences to estimate the effects of Bright Futures implementation and adjustment on tuition and
fees, room and board, and institutional grant aid. The study's main finding is that net of institutional and state covariates, public
institutions in Florida respond to the implementation of Bright Futures by increasing tuition and fees as well as room and board. Public
institutions also increase grant aid spending in response to the program. This study also provides evidence that private institutions
reduce tuition and fees in response to Bright Futures implementation. Finally, this study examines the effects of the 2010 shift in the
Bright Futures award structure away from a guaranteed percentage of tuition and fees, finding that the award shift has no discernible
effect on the pricing measures. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2016. / April 14, 2016. / college pricing, merit aid / Includes bibliographical references. / David Tandberg, Professor Directing Dissertation; Frances Berry, University Representative;
Shouping Hu, Committee Member; Toby Park, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_360378 |
| Contributors | Hunt, James Monroe (authoraut), Tandberg, David A. (professor directing dissertation), Berry, Frances Stokes (university representative), Hu, Shouping (committee member), Park, Toby J. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Education (degree granting college), Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (degree granting department) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource (239 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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