Citizens by Degree by Deondra Rose

Author:Deondra Rose
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2018-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

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Source: The Social and Governmental Issues and Participation (SGIP) study.

Thus far, we have found that federal financial aid programs have provided valuable support for Americans pursuing higher education. The gender egalitarianism with which federal resources have been targeted, however, varies by program. The benefits of the GI Bill—the first federal program to offer direct financial aid to citizens pursuing college degrees—reached an overwhelmingly male population of veterans in the post–World War II era. Men born between 1916 and 1934 claimed benefits at considerably higher rates than their younger counterparts. While the GI Bill was a significant source of support for American men during the postwar era, we find that federal student loans and Pell Grants have been used by substantial portions of college students, both male and female. With the growth of student loan programs in recent decades, we have seen that these programs have come to represent a considerable source of support for younger citizens. In recent decades, student loans and Pell Grants have become the dominant source of federal support for college students.

When we consider the factors that compel citizens to use federal student aid—assuming the availability of said aid—we find that gender, age, and race provide strong predictors of GI Bill, student loan, and Pell Grant utilization. For the GI Bill, age and the gendered condition of military service prove the most powerful predictors of program utilization. Student loans and Pell Grants are widely used by both women and men, although women and younger Americans are significantly more likely to take advantage of these programs. While a significant proportion of American college students receive federal loans, fewer than half of beneficiaries recognize that these benefits come from the government; men and women are more likely to identify the GI Bill and Pell Grants as government social programs. For both genders, policy users largely view their use of federal student aid as a positive experience. Having considered the gender dynamics of federal student aid usage and beneficiaries’ views regarding program receipt, we turn now to the effects of financial aid programs on higher educational attainment in the United States.

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