| This study investigated the relationship between structure and human agency in predicting the amount of institutional and state sponsored merit aid received. Variables related to a student's family social background and variables related to a student's academic achievement were examined to determine their influences on student receipt of merit aid. A specific aim of this study was to inform policymakers about the recent shift in financial aid policy from the focus on need toward awarding financial aid on the basis of academic achievement.;The source of data for this study was the National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey of 2003-04. Cases of merit aid recipients who were dependent undergraduate students attending 4-year institutions during 2003-04 resulted in a study population of 4,197 institutional merit aid recipients and 2,187 state sponsored merit aid recipients. Analyses methods included descriptive statistic and two models of linear regression.;Findings revealed that after controlling for structural variables related to a student's family social background, human agency variables related to a student's academic background still predict a fair amount of both institutional and state sponsored merit aid received. However, descriptive statistics integrating family social background characteristics with merit aid reveal some interesting results, which are worthy of discussion. |
