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One of the major developments in financing undergraduate education in the United States in the past 20 years has been the introduction of broad-based merit-aid programs by state governments. The typical program waives tuition and fees at public colleges and universities for state residents who have attained a respectable grade-point average (typically a 3.0, or B, average) in high school. Many programs also provide a subsidy of comparable value for attendance at private institutions in the state. Since 1990, 13 states have introduced such programs (see Table 1), and while state budget problems associated with the most recent recession have caused some to trim subsidy amounts and tighten eligibility requirements, these programs remain popular.
Jeffrey A. Groen (groen.jeffrey@bls.gov) is a research economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This article is based on an extended analysis entitled “Building Knowledge Stocks Locally: Consequences of Geographic Mobility for the Effectiveness of State Higher Education Policies” in Economic Development Quarterly. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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