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Published
2021-04-26
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Section
Feature Articles
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Copyright (c) 2021 Don Nix, Dr. Trevor Francis, Danielle Dunn, Brett Rankin
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright of all articles published in JCOTR belong to the author(s) and are published under a CC BY-NC license.
How to Cite
Student Talent Enrichment Program
Improving Underfunded Students' Retention Outcomes
Don Nix
Dr. Trevor Francis
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Danielle Dunn
Brett Rankin
University of Arkansas
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/jcotr.v28i1.3608
Keywords: Underfunded, Grant Program, Retention, Need-based aid, Merit-based aid, Financial Aid Program
Abstract
The Student Talent Enrichment Program was an experimental grant program conducted at a major research university to improve underfunded students’ retention outcomes. This program provided scholarships to 151 first-year students with $5,000 or more in unmet financial need. Participants received a one-time grant in the fall of 2017, with award amounts ranging from $2,500 to $10,000. Grant recipients' retention rates exceeded the control group by small margins. However, these grants failed to make a difference only among the few grantees already in academic jeopardy. For grant recipients who had early GPAs of at least 1.5 prior to receiving financial awards, term-to-term retention rates surpassed the control group by a substantial, expected, and statistically significant margin.
