Washington — Receiving a Pell Grant is associated with faster degree completion when variables such as parent’s education and undergraduate risk factors are controlled simultaneously, according to a report released today by the National Center for Education Statistics, the Education Department's statistical arm.
The report, "A Profile of Successful Pell Grant Recipients: Time to Bachelor's Degree and Early Graduate School Enrollment," compares the 36 percent of students who completed a bachelor’s degree in 1999-2000 and who received at least one Pell Grant to those graduates who did not.
The report says that, among degree earners, Pell Grant recipients took a median of just over five years to finish, while nonrecipients took a median of about four years and four months when no other variables were controlled.
Much of the difference is related to risk factors Pell Grant recipients are more likely to have. For instance, when the study controlled for "stopping out" of college — i.e., students who left college temporarily but later returned to complete a degree — it found no difference between time to completion for Pell Grant recipients who stopped out and nonrecipients who stopped out.
The report also includes a multivariate analysis that controls for parent’s education, institution type, stopout status, transfer status, high-school diploma, delayed entry into college, attendance status, working during school, and number of dependents. That analysis found that when all those variables were held at the same time, receiving a Pell Grant was associated with faster degree completion.
Comments
1. jonoberg - July 22, 2009 at 08:56 am
The most important line in the report: "[R]eaders should note that the methods used in this analysis are entirely descriptive in nature and that no causal inferences should be drawn from the results." It would be nice to have some causal research on student financial aid from the Department of Education, given the level of taxpayer commitment and consequences for students.
2. jonoberg - July 22, 2009 at 08:58 am
The most important line in the report: "[R]eaders should note that the methods used in this analysis are entirely descriptive in nature and that no causal inferences should be drawn from the results." It would be nice to have some causal research on student financial aid from the Department of Education, given the level of taxpayer commitment and consequences for students.