Irregularidades en el Contrato

The process of choosing a college has changed dramatically over the last 50 years with federal education policy designed to increase access (Kinzie, Palmer, Hayek, Hossler, Jacob, & Cummings, 2004). Most research on financial aspects of college choice pertains to access and enrollment. However, several studies worth noting have examined price-response behaviors and student expectations. Heller (2001), as part of an enrollment study on California college students, outlined a series of assumptions on student choice behavior based on prior research reviews by Jackson and Weatherby (1975), Leslie and Brinkman (1988), and Heller (1997). These assumptions included basic economic characteristics of college choice as being responsive to prices and aid, and lower-income students being more sensitive to price differences. However, there were also less intuitive findings. Equivalent changes in net price may affect students differently depending on whether they affect cost or aid or even which kind of aid

changes (Heller, 2001). All else being equal, student enrollment responds to grants more strongly than other kinds of financial aid. Also, one sector can be affected by policy changes in another (Heller, 2001).

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Available research has examined student responses to these different sources of aid. McDonough, Calderone, and Purdy (2007) compared eleven states’ grant aid program. As states’ higher education policies are dependent upon the particular needs of that state, the foci of each state program, such as proportions of grants that are merit-based and need-based, vary widely. McDonough et al. caution against direct comparisons of impact. At the institution level, Hurwitz (2012), examined student response to

institutional grant aid and found a small percentage predicted increase in the probability of enrollment—referred to as “college-choice elasticity” (Hurwitz, 2012, p. 3)—given an increase in grant aid offered. The strength of this association varied by income level. However, Hurwitz only examined applicants to 30 highly selective institutions.

Kim (2011) examined NELS:88/2000 data to determine the effect of state financial aid policies on students’ college choice. Results showed that the availability of need- based grants affected ethnicities differently. For African American and Hispanic students, there is actually a negative association between state grants offered and probability of enrollment. This suggests that policies designed to bridge gaps for disadvantaged

populations may not be succeeding in their intended goal (Kim, 2011). By contrast, Long (2007) examined the role of loans in enabling access by examining college enrollment changes following the increase in loans levels following the 1992 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. She estimated the change in eligibility for federal loans using home equity, which prior to 1992 was used in the formula for family eligibility. She found that the increase in enrollment among newly eligible families suggests that the 1992 HEA did increase access for a large number of students.

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Lillis and Tian (2008) surveyed 289 students on the factors which affected their college choice. They found significant interactions between tuition level and each of the following: income level, scholarship sensitivity, and financial aid sensitivity. Though other influences moderated college choice, cost appeared to limit low-income students’ choices regardless of other factors. Perna and Steele (2011) explored “context” that affects the impact of financial aid on student enrollment. They used case studies of high school students from five states to examine the perceptions and expectations the students formed about higher education, and how these shaped their decisions. Perna and Steele suggested that perceptions about financial aid might be more important than the aid itself (2008).

Finances may also impact student expectations in different ways depending on student background. One Australian study showed that students’ expectations of college are shaped by their socioeconomic background, where socioeconomic background was defined exclusively in terms of parental education level. Richard James (2002) surveyed 7,000 high school-age students and found that lower socioeconomic background students were more likely to perceive inhibiting factors to pursuing postsecondary education such as lack of confidence in family support, desire not to delay income, and concern

regarding the cost of school. There were also drastic gender differences among the responses; females showed more positive outlook on most items (James, 2002). Similarly, Kim, DesJardins, and McCall (2009) studied the differences in response to financial aid among various racial groups, using data over a four-year period at the University of Iowa. They modeled probability of application, admission, and enrollment based on student background and aid package. They found that response to aid package,

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relative to the level of aid expected, varies by ethnicity. Nurnberg, Morton, and

Zimmerman (2012) conducted a predictive study on a single institution using data over a four-year period to create a model of prediction of enrollment from among all accepted students. In addition to significant relationships with student demographics, academic background, and net price as other studies have show, Nurnberg et al. found students’ interests (both academic and extra-curricular), to significant predictor of enrollment.

Student choice to attend two-year colleges has been examined at both the national level and state. Stokes and Somers (2009) used NPSAS:96 data to examine predictors of student enrollment in two year schools, including student background and institutional characteristics. After using an ANOVA on BPS:88 variables to develop a model of best fit, they conducted a logistic regression analysis where the outcome variable was two- year or four-year institution selection. While student ethnicity and academic preparation were significantly related to the outcome, cost variables and campus climate also

predicted enrollment. Barreno and Traut (2012) surveyed students at a Texas community college on their main criteria for school selection. Though cost was among the top reasons, programs offered, program quality, and course transferability were the most commonly cited reasons for enrolling.

One study has examined student choice to attend for-profits in particular. Chung (2012) examined NELS:1988 and PETS:2000 data to examine whether enrollment in for-profit schools was incidental or whether students chose those institutions for some specific reason intrinsic to the school itself. Over and above demographic and

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that geographic concentration of such schools was related, as was tuition charged by competing community colleges (Chung, 2012).