Research On The Changes Of The Student Aid Policy In America From The Perspective Of "Punctuated Equilibrium" Theory

Fairness in higher education has always been a widely discussed issue in the society.Making students in need receive the most reasonable financial aid to promote the solution of the fairness issues has become an important issue in the field of education.Systematic financial aid for college students in America started relatively early,and the establishment of the financial aid system is inseparable from the exploration of the federal government’s policies over the years.Among all kinds of student aid policies in America,the Higher Education Act is the top law and at the core,leading the formulation of student aid policies in other states.In different periods,the preference of this policy has always changed,but all of them revolve around the difficult problem of the choice of funding object and funding method.This study explores the choice of the two core aspects of the federal government in different periods.The thesis consists of three main parts.In the first part,set up the analysis framework.The “Punctuated Equilibrium”theory is applicable to the analysis of long-term policy changes in the field of public policy,and it can also explain the changing trend of "balance-discontinuity-new balance" in American student aid policy.The second part covers chapters 2 to 4.This part makes a longitudinal historical investigation of the change process of student aid policy in the Higher Education Act,summarizes the change process and trend,and explores the reasons for the policy balance or discontinuity with the help of the analytical framework.The second chapter is the balance period in the policy change(1965-late 1970s),when the grant program is the main one and the loan program is the secondary one,mainly for low-income students.It is concluded that the main influencing factors in the first stage are the policy image that "funding low-income groups is conducive to solving the problem of education equity",which is widely recognized,and policymaking is firmly in the hands of key policy stakeholders.The third chapter is the discontinuity period of policy changes(late 1970s-early 1980s).At this time,it turned to a loan-based approach to expand the funding target to the middle-income class.In this stage,due to economic problems and rising tuition fees,the overall perception of the policy changed,and the contradiction between the original policy makers and the intervention of the president made the overall policy changed greatly.The fourth chapter is the new balance of policy period ending in 2008.At this time,it began to try a variety of ways to support students from different classes.This is because theoriginal intention of the policy has been paid attention to again due to the change of demands of all levels and the promotion of relevant organizations,and the policy has been mastered by key people for a long time,which makes student aid policy stable again.The third part is the reflection on the changing characteristics of college student aid policy.The study found,the target of financial aid is along the trend of "low income group-middle income group-middle and low income group" and the approach has evolved along a "grant-loan-balance" path.The trend in policy changes are closely related to the shaping of social concepts.