Barriers to Need-Based Financial Aid: The Relationships between Income, Geography, Social Capital and the FAFSA

Researchers overwhelmingly agree that socioeconomic factors and academic ability are strong predictors of college enrollment and completion. Researchers also find that low‐income students face significant barriers to college including weak academic preparation, less access to social capital and resources that encourage college going, and financial support for college. Need‐based financial aid aims to address one of these barriers, financial support, by offering financial aid regardless of academic merit. Unfortunately, we know little about the ways in which need‐based aid is distributed among low‐income students. This research uses the Illinois Monetary Assistance Program (MAP) as a case study for investigating the economic, geographic, and social factors that shape access to need‐based financial aid. Specifically, we examine the relationship between geographic, social, and economic factors with timely FAFSA completion, which is the required for receipt of a MAP grant. The findings indicate that the distribution of need‐based aid in Illinois is significantly related to social and economic factors, but that geography is not a significant predictor for whether or not low‐income students receive a MAP grant. The results point to important differences among low‐income college going students and help to advance our understanding of state run need‐based financial aid programs.