Higher Education, Merit-Based Scholarships and Post-Baccalaureate Migration

Maria D. Fitzpatrick, Damon Jones

NBER Working Paper No. 18530
Issued in November 2012
NBER Program(s):   ED   PE

We present new evidence on the effects of merit aid scholarship programs on residential migration and educational attainment using Census data on 24 to 32 year olds in the U.S. from 1990 to 2010. Eligibility for merit aid programs slightly increases the propensity of state natives to live in-state, while also extending in-state enrollment into the late twenties. These patterns notwithstanding, the magnitude of merit aid effects is of an order of magnitude smaller than the population treated, suggesting that nearly all of the spending on these programs is transferred to individuals who do not alter educational or migration behavior.

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This paper was revised on May 10, 2013

Acknowledgments

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