Back to School Federal Student Aid Policy and Adult College Enrollment

Abstract

Much of the research examining the question of how federal financial aid affects decisions to enroll in college has focused on the behavior of students immediately following graduation, leaving unanswered the question of how changes in the availability of aid affects the behavior of older students. This article examines how changes in the means-tested federal Pell grant program affect enrollment decisions of potential students in their twenties and thirties. The results indicated sizable effects of the introduction of the Pell grant program on college enrollment decisions for older students.