Print this chapter (6.2MB)
Higher Education
Quartiles | Findings | Description
State expenditures on student aid per full-time undergraduate student: 2002
State expenditures on student aid per full-time undergraduate student: 2002
Quartiles
State expenditures on student aid per full-time undergraduate student: 2002*
| 1st Quartile ($1,827–$712) |
2nd Quartile ($682–$424) |
3rd Quartile ($399–$94) |
4th Quartile ($84–$0) |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Arkansas | Idaho | Alabama |
| Florida | Colorado | Kansas | Alaska |
| Georgia | Connecticut | Maine | Arizona |
| Illinois | Indiana | Michigan | Delaware |
| Kentucky | Iowa | Mississippi | District of Columbia |
| Louisiana | Maryland | Missouri | Hawaii |
| Minnesota | Massachusetts | Nebraska | Montana |
| New Jersey | Nevada | Oklahoma | New Hampshire |
| New Mexico | North Carolina | Oregon | North Dakota |
| New York | Ohio | Rhode Island | South Dakota |
| Pennsylvania | Texas | Tennessee | Utah |
| South Carolina | Vermont | West Virginia | Wyoming |
| Washington | Virginia | Wisconsin | |
| *States in alphabetical order, not data order.
SOURCES: National Association of State Scholarship and Grant Programs, Annual Survey Report; and U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. See |
|||
Findings
- In the United States, the total amount of state financial aid from grants that were provided to undergraduates rose from nearly $2.8 billion in 1995 to nearly $5.0 billion in 2002, an average annual increase of 8.7%. On a per-student basis, this represented an average annual increase of 7.1%, rising from $414 in 1995 to $671 in 2002.
- The amount of financial assistance provided by the states and the District of Columbia varied greatly; 13 averaged less than $100 per undergraduate student, and 6 provided more than $1,000 per student.
- Most states showed rather small increases in the amount of state aid they provided to undergraduates between 1995 and 2002.
Description
The cost of an undergraduate education can be reduced with financial assistance from the state, federal government, or academic institution. This indicator measures the amount of financial support from state grants that go to undergraduate students at both public and private institutions in the state. It is calculated by dividing the total state grant aid to undergraduates by the number of full-time undergraduates who are attending school in the state. A high value is one indicator of state efforts to provide access to higher education at a time of escalating undergraduate costs.
This indicator should be viewed relative to the level of tuition charged to undergraduates in a state because some states have chosen to subsidize tuition for all students at public institutions rather than provide grants.
Total state grant expenditures for financial aid include both need-based and non-need-based grants. State assistance through subsidized or unsubsidized loans and awards to students at the graduate and first professional degree levels are not included. The number of undergraduate students represents the total full-time undergraduate enrollment in both public and private 4-year institutions in the state. The year is the latter date of the academic year. For example, data for 2002 represent costs for the 2001–02 academic year.
