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Abstract
Since the early 1990s there has been a proliferation of broad-based merit scholarship programs in the United States that help students pay for college expenses. This particular type of funding mechanism in higher education is only about 14-years old and was first implemented in 1993 in Georgia as the Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) Scholarship. As a result, the most relevant literature is recent but rather limited.
The State of New Mexico joined this movement with the New Mexico Lottery Success Scholarship (NMLSS) in the fall of 1997, and by 2003-2004 almost 6,800 University of New Mexico students received over $13 million from the NMLSS tuition scholarship. Coupled with the shift at the federal level from need-based grant funding to a financial aid system dominated by loans, this recent trend has made it more difficult for students from low and moderate income families to enroll and graduate from four-year colleges. This financing shift is happening as the significant growth in high school graduates wanting to attend college is peaking, and the largest growth rates are in our minority populations.
At a time in which higher education has never been more important to the economy nor the economic returns any greater, the current and next generation of minority and low-income students face diminished education and economic opportunity. Without adequate need-based financial assistance, thousands of New Mexicans will not be able to earn degrees from four-year colleges.
This study will identify the graduation gaps that existed just prior to the implementation of the NMLSS and examine how effective the NMLSS has been at helping to close the gaps in undergraduate graduation rates among diverse populations at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque (UNMA). This study could indicate whether the NMLSS has positively affected overall and/or specific cohort graduation rates at UNMA. Assessing the impact of the NMLSS Program on the graduation rates of the recipients at UNMA is an important step toward formulating sound student aid policies for the next generation of New Mexicans.
