Brandon Carter
While there are many complex programs and scholarships designed for the poor, few may have considered that it is the simplistic programs that have the most impact. A paper entitled “Into College, Out of Poverty? Policies to Increase the Postsecondary Attainment of the Poor” by the National Bureau of Economic Research, looked at the effectiveness of an array of programs, including common federal and private scholarships, grants and subsidized student loans. The paper concluded that the simpler it is for a student to apply, the more likely he or she will apply. This is critical because the scholarships that are applied for and received, the more likely he or she will go to college as they wouldn’t have the funding to do so without applying.
In addition, in paper the author brings to attention that programs like the Pell Grant sometimes fall short because they require so much paper work. While the program is effective in targeting low-income students who may not have had the opportunity to attend college otherwise, the amount of paperwork required to receive the award could possibly make the program less accessible to those it was designed for. Also cited in the paper was the HOPE scholarship. The author and many others believe that this is one of the more effective forms of financial aid because it is so straightforward. This scholarship is also effective in part because individuals who have a desire to succeed and want to go to college can easily acquire it by keeping their grades up. Helping low income students get into college is the aim of many forms of financial aid and in order to reach the greatest number the application method, as the paper states, needs to be simplified.
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