
The Student Aid Game
Meeting Need and Rewarding Talent in American Higher Education
Princeton University Press
Published on 16. November 1997
Book
Hardback
176 pages
978-0-691-05783-5 (ISBN)
Description
Student aid in higher education has recently become a hot-button issue. Parents trying to pay for their children's education, college administrators competing for students, and even President Bill Clinton, whose recently proposed tax breaks for college would change sharply the federal government's financial commitment to higher education, have staked a claim in its resolution. In "The Student Aid Game", Michael McPherson and Morton Owen Schapiro explain how both colleges and governments are struggling to cope with a rapidly changing marketplace, and show how sound policies can help preserve the strengths and remedy some emerging weaknesses of American higher education. McPherson and Schapiro offer a detailed look at how undergraduate education is financed in the United States, highlighting differences across sectors and for students of differing family backgrounds. They review the implications of recent financing trends for access to and choice of undergraduate college and gauge the implications of these national trends for the future of college opportunity.
The authors examine how student aid fits into college budgets, how aid and pricing decisions are shaped by government higher education policies, and how competition has radically reshaped the way colleges think about the strategic role of student aid. Of particular interest is the issue of merit aid. McPherson and Schapiro consider the attractions and pitfalls of merit aid from the viewpoint of students, institutions, and society. "The Student Aid Game" concludes with an examination of policy options for both government and individual institutions. McPherson and Schapiro argue that the federal government needs to keep its attention focused on providing access to college for needy students, while colleges themselves need to constrain their search for strategic advantage by sticking to aid and admission policies they are willing to articulate and defend publicly.
The authors examine how student aid fits into college budgets, how aid and pricing decisions are shaped by government higher education policies, and how competition has radically reshaped the way colleges think about the strategic role of student aid. Of particular interest is the issue of merit aid. McPherson and Schapiro consider the attractions and pitfalls of merit aid from the viewpoint of students, institutions, and society. "The Student Aid Game" concludes with an examination of policy options for both government and individual institutions. McPherson and Schapiro argue that the federal government needs to keep its attention focused on providing access to college for needy students, while colleges themselves need to constrain their search for strategic advantage by sticking to aid and admission policies they are willing to articulate and defend publicly.
Reviews / Votes
Confusion and apprehension often drive families into the arms of private counselors, who offer, for a price, to help them master the [student aid] system. They would be well advised to save their money and consult McPherson and Schapiro instead. -- Donald Kennedy Atlantic Monthly Because they are primarily interested in how federal policy might more effectively open the doors to college for low-income youth, McPherson and Schapiro, like good economists, analyze the effects of financial-aid programs on the incentives of colleges and parents, and anticipate the impact of recent changes in the tax code on colleges' tuition and aid policies. Harvard MagazineMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Trade binding
Illustrations
3 Abbildungen
3 line illus.
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-05783-5 (9780691057835)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Michael McPherson | Morton Schapiro
The Student Aid Game
Meeting Need and Rewarding Talent in American Higher Education
E-Book
07/2021
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€56.99
Available for download
Persons
Michael S. McPherson is President of Macalester College. Morton Owen Schapiro is Dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern California.
Content
<table><TR><TD> <TD>Figures and Tables <TR><TD>1 <TD>Meeting Need and Rewarding Talent: Student Aid in the U.S. System of Higher Education Finance <TR><TD>2 <TD>Changing the Rules: The New Strategic Role of Student Aid <TR><TD>Pt. 2 <TD>Student Aid and Educational Opportunity: Are We Keeping College Affordable? <TR><TD>3 <TD>Prices and Aid: The Growing Burden on Families <TR><TD>4 <TD>Access: Student Response to Higher Prices - and Higher Returns <TR><TD>5 <TD>Choice: How Ability to Pay Affects College Options <TR><TD>6 <TD>The Future of College Affordability <TR><TD>Pt. 3 <TD>Student Aid and Institutional Strategy <TR><TD>7 <TD>Student Aid in Institutional Finance <TR><TD>8 <TD>How Government Aid Shapes Colleges' Behavior <TR><TD>9 <TD>Student Aid as a Competitive Weapon <TR><TD>Pt. 4 <TD>The Special Case of Merit Aid <TR><TD>10 <TD>Merit Aid: Its Place in History and Its Role in Society <TR><TD>11 <TD>The Institutional Perspective <TR><TD>12 <TD>The Student Perspective <TR><TD>13 <TD>Conclusion: Merit Aid - Good or Bad? <TR><TD>Pt. V <TD>The Future of Student Aid <TR><TD>14 <TD>Where Do We Go from Here? <TR><TD> <TD>Notes <TR><TD> <TD>Bibliography <TR><TD> <TD>Index