Abstract
To explore whether federal & state financial aid to US college students is inequitably distributed among lower-income groups, patterns of enrollment in public & private schools by lower-income students are compared to those from other income groups using data from the 1995/96 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study & other national educational statistics, 1970-1997. Analysis reveals that, despite a massive influx of federal & state funds to expand the educational choices of students from lower-income families (defined here as under $30,000), enrollment patterns of such students have remained virtually unchanged since 1970, when such policies were first instituted. Lower-income students still tend to enter public 2-year colleges & 4-year universities in greater numbers than they do private institutions; the latter have actually experienced a decline in lower-income enrollment as a percentage of the freshman class over this period. Those who enroll in private or proprietary schools receive significantly more financial assistance than do their economic counterparts at public or nonprofit ones. It is argued that access to direct student aid resources must be made more equitable & the amounts of such aid reevaluated. 2 Tables, 27 References. K. Hyatt Stewart