Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses by Arum Richard & Roksa Josipa

Author:Arum, Richard & Roksa, Josipa [Arum, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub

One way in which different sources of funding could be related to student outcomes is through their relationship to other activities, particularly work. Financial aid packages are often constructed to include employment components, whether through the federal work-study program or various institutional programs. Students who request and are eligible for financial assistance may thus have specific employment obligations included in their financial aid packages. Moreover, since financial aid rarely meets the full cost of attending college, students may seek to work additional hours to cover the difference. College students may also work in order to avoid borrowing. Our analyses reveal that sources of funding are indeed related to hours worked on and off campus. The higher the proportion of college costs covered through grants / scholarships, the more time students spend working on campus and the less time they spend working off campus. In contrast, the higher the proportion of college costs covered through loans, the more time students spend working off campus. Financing college education through loans is positively related to working on campus as well, but that relationship is weaker than the relationship between grants / scholarships and working on campus.50

Relationships between students’ estimates of college funding sources and hours worked, however, are relatively weak in our sample. Moreover, different forms of employment and different college funding strategies are related to students’ social background and academic preparation. When we include on-and off-campus employment in the analysis in addition to other individual-level characteristics, the relationship between grants / scholarships and CLA growth on the one hand and loans and CLA growth on the other does not change notably (see table A4.4 in methodological appendix). In the final analysis, after statistically adjusting estimates for individual characteristics and institutions attended, employment during college does not appear to be related to CLA growth. The percentage of college costs covered through grants / scholarships, however, continues to have a positive association with students’ learning. While not definitive, these findings point to an area deserving further investigation. Previous research has focused on examining the relationship between financial aid and persistence / attainment; our analyses suggest that learning is another outcome worthy of examination.

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