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Modeling the impacts of national and institutional financial aid opportunities on persistence at an elite Chilean university

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Abstract

Much of the recent Chilean educational debate and reform has centered around issues of higher education cost, debt burden, and availability of grants versus loans. This quantitative case study of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile sought to understand the longitudinal contributions of combinations of types of financial aid to persistence of low-income students. The results identified that the aggregate availability of both grants and loans at the university-level has a net positive contribution beyond the contributions of national-level grants and loans. In finest distinction, however, only ministry aid (in the form of need-based grants and loans) decreased the likelihood of dropping out. Such findings suggest that universities may want to consider carefully as part of a comprehensive persistence plan how they leverage institution-level contributions to student aid packages.

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Notes

  1. A 2012 national study by Intelis and Verde found, in contrast, no significant relationship between availability grants and persistence patterns among Chilean students.

  2. Author analyses from annual budget laws (Dirección de Presupuesto 2011) (www.dipres.gob.cl).

  3. In 2008 dollars (MINEDUC 2009).

  4. Until 2011, the CFS charged interest rates equivalent to a third of the interest rate charged by the CAE.

  5. The Carlos Casanueva award, for example, is an exception since it only considers academic merit both on the application process as well as on the first semester of college.

  6. For a fuller discussion, see Pensamiento Educativo, 49(2) (2012). .

  7. This analysis excludes students admitted through special considerations, which represents about 500 students per year. (Total regular admissions, respectively, for years 2007 and 2008 are: 3,524 and 3,491.) This study excludes them because they have regularly have a different profile (e.g., older, transferring from another university or major) and some of their academic information (e.g., PSU scores) are not available.

  8. For Cohorts 2007 and 2008, this includes 8 and 6 long semesters, respectively.

  9. This loan and grant classification strategy is in line with literature seeking to assess similar questions (e.g., DesJardins et al. 2002; Intelis and Verde 2012). See “Appendix 1” for details on the requirements and benefits of fellowship and loan programs. Specific classifications of grants and loans are available upon request to the authors.

  10. Sample size was too small to run models for the third major category.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Fulbright Scholars and the PUC Faculty of Education Doctoral FIAC (Project #1113) programs for funding for this project. We would like to thank PUC for providing data and the anonymous reviewer comments which greatly strengthened the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Catherine Horn

  2. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    María Verónica Santelices & Ximena Catalán Avendaño

Authors
  1. Catherine Horn
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  2. María Verónica Santelices
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  3. Ximena Catalán Avendaño
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Catherine Horn.

Appendix 1

Appendix 1

This appendix presents a brief description of the main benefits available to UC students at the national and institutional level during the period under analysis classified according to the criteria used in this paper.

Financial aid available from the Ministry of Education

Need-based grants

Bicentenario Fellowship is available for students who attend CRUCH institutions, whose family income is in the lowest two national income quintiles and whose average Math and Language PSU scores are above 550. The fellowship pays for tuition up to the tuition reference amount.

Merit-based grants

Juan Gómez Millas Grant, available to students graduating from municipal of partially subsidized schools, who enroll in any accredited institutions in Chile or Latin America. Although formal PSU score requirements are equivalent to the BIC Fellowship, between 2007 and 2011 Juan Gomez Millas beneficiaries had to score 640 on the Math and Language PSU and must had a family income within the first two national income quintiles.

Academic Excellence Fellowship (BEA), available to students who graduate in the top 5 % (it was extended to the top 10 % in subsequent years) of their high school class in public or partly subsidized schools regardless of the type of higher education institution they attend (CRUCH universities, accredited private universities, TFCs or TIs). Students must have a family income in the lowest four income quintiles and must score 475 or more on the PSU or have a high school GPA equivalent to 5 or more. During the period under analysis it funded up to $1.150.000 of college tuition or $500.000 of technical institutions tuition.

Other grants

Grant for Teacher Training Programs, available to students who enroll in Higher Education institution with an average PSU score of 600 or more and whose high school grades are 6 or above (1–7 scale).

Loans

Fondo Solidario Universitario loan (CFS) is accessible only to students enrolled at CRUCH institutions.

The Crédito con Aval del Estado loan (CAE) has also been available to all students since 2006 (World Bank 2011).

Financial aid available from catholic university of Chile

Need-based and academic achievement grants

Priest Hurtado Grant, funds the real tuition amount of students who graduate at the top 20 % of their high school class, who have an average Math and Language PSU score equal or above 750 and face serious economic constraints to pay for college (individual family income of $150,000 or less in 2008).

Grant Monsignor Carlos Casanueva, available to recent high school graduates from the fourth lowest national income quintiles. It considers student′s performance on college first semester (top 20 % of the program class) as well as the competitiveness of her application (top 20 %).

Grant from the John Paul II Foundation, available to students with socioeconomic need according to the analysis conducted by Foundation professionals. Beneficiaries must be within the top 35 % of their class, must demonstrate significant personal development and other characteristics defined by the Foundation. The fellowship may fund between 45 and 90 % of the tuition depending the student′s needs. It also includes a stipend for meals and transportation.

UC grant to complement the reference tuition amount, available to students from the first three national income quintiles who have just graduated from high school and who have enrolled in the top 20 % of their program.

Merit-based grants

Honor Enrolment grant, funds partially the real tuition amount depending on family income (25 or 50 %). Beneficiaries must prove extremely high academic achievement at point of application (highest possible score in PSU test, first place in the program enrolment list) or during college (first place on program ranking measured by college GPA).

Other grants

UC grant for teacher training, available for recent graduates from high school who enroll in teacher preparation programs at UC as their first preference and whose mean Language and Math score is equal or above 700 points. Students may belong to any of the four national income quintiles. The grant covers 50 % of the tuition.

Loans

UC loan to complement the reference tuition amount has requirements that are similar to the grant of the same but requires the student to enroll within the top 40 % of her college class.

Bank Grant, refers to a subsidized loan from a financial institution and guaranteed by UC. It is available for students between the second and third national income quintile that did not get the UC loan to complement the reference tuition amount. Beneficiaries must be recent high school graduates, and may have enrolled in the bottom 60 % of their program.

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Horn, C., Santelices, M.V. & Avendaño, X.C. Modeling the impacts of national and institutional financial aid opportunities on persistence at an elite Chilean university. High Educ 68, 471–488 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-014-9723-3

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