Dollars for Degrees: Financial Aid and its Impact on Post-Secondary Degree Completion in Texas

Jeffrey Cohen, Lindsay Fox, Jeff Kutash, Mukta Pandit

As the focus of policymakers and philanthropic funders has shifted from post-secondary access to post-secondary access and success, researchers have begun to investigate more deeply the specific effects of rising college costs, increasing debt, and the impact of financial aid on degree completion. This report describes the sources and types of financial aid available to post-secondary students in Texas, how financial aid is packaged at different types of institutions, and the effects of financial aid on post-secondary persistence and completion. While this paper focuses on Texas, the lessons and the methodology of analysis are applicable for other states.