Share of Student-Grant Recipients From High-Income Families Has Grown

Eighteen percent of dependent undergraduates who received grant aid in 2007-8 came from families with incomes above the 75th percentile, up from 13 percent in 1995-96, according to a report issued today by the National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S. Education Department’s statistical arm. The share of students receiving merit aid grew during that period, as did the share receiving need-based aid, according to the report, “Merit Aid for Undergraduates: Trends From 1995-96 to 2007-08.”