Using Financial Aid to Incentivize Academic Success

This forum will present background and early findings on the Performance‐Based Scholarship Demonstration in California – an evaluation of the effectiveness of performance‐based scholarships in increasing academic success for low‐income students in California. The evaluation employs a random assignment research design, the gold standard in program evaluation, and the scholarships are need‐based grants that are contingent upon students meeting a performance benchmark. They are paid directly to students, in addition to existing financial aid. Notably, they are portable and can be used at any accredited college or university in the country. The California program also has varying scholarship amounts for varying durations, and will help determine whether there is a “tipping point” at which the scholarship would have the greatest impact. It builds upon a long‐standing program at the College Access Foundation called “Cash for College”, which offers hundreds of workshops throughout the state to help low‐income high school seniors and their parents apply for federal and state financial aid.