Demographic and Academic Characteristics of Pell Grant ...

Demographic and Academic Characteristics of Pell Grant Recipients at Community Colleges

Sung-Woo Cho James Jacobs Christine Zhang November 2013 CCRC Working Paper No. 65

Address correspondence to: Sung-Woo Cho Postdoctoral Research Associate, Community College Research Center Teachers College, Columbia University 525 West 120th Street, Box 174 New York, NY 10027 212-678-3091 Email: sc2536@columbia.edu Funding for this study was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Abstract

Using data on more than 50,000 community college students who first enrolled during the 2005?06 academic year at one of nine community colleges in three large states, this paper presents demographic and academic characteristics of students who did and did not receive a Pell Grant. The descriptive findings suggest that, despite lower levels of initial college readiness, Pell recipients had a stronger academic focus than non-Pell recipients. Yet, while Pell recipients had higher credit completion ratios and were more likely to complete an award, they were also more likely to be enrolled in the same college with more than 30 credits after five years. This suggests that Pell recipients at community colleges may be taking a longer period of time to complete an academic credential than is prudent.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction and Background ..................................................................................... 1 1.1 Growth of the Program and Current Fiscal Climate ................................................ 1 1.2 Pell Grants in Community Colleges......................................................................... 3

2. Data ................................................................................................................................ 3

3. Findings.......................................................................................................................... 4 3.1 Demographic Characteristics ................................................................................... 4 3.2 Academic Characteristics......................................................................................... 7 3.3 Major Declaration .................................................................................................... 8 3.4 Educational Outcomes ........................................................................................... 10

4. Discussion and Conclusion ......................................................................................... 12

References ........................................................................................................................ 14

1. Introduction and Background The U.S. Federal Pell Grant program was established in 1972 with the goal of increasing access to postsecondary education. The program uses a need-based formula tied to students' Expected Family Contribution (EFC) in order to allocate funds for undergraduate study at participating institutions. While Pell Grants have historically served as the primary source of aid for low-income students, the size of the program has swelled in recent years--the number of Pell Grant recipients in both community colleges and other educational institutions has increased dramatically. Given the sharply rising cost of the program and the strong interest in reducing federal spending generally, it is important to have an understanding of the students who receive Pell awards, particularly those who attend community colleges, where about one third of all Pell Grant recipients are enrolled. Gaining a clearer picture of the student characteristics and educational outcomes of Pell Grant recipients at community colleges is valuable for assessing the program's overall success and for identifying potential areas for improvement. Using student-level and course-level administrative data from a sample of nine community colleges in three states, this short paper identifies demographic and academic characteristics of Pell Grant recipients attending community colleges and how they differ from characteristics of community college students who do not receive Pell awards. In terms of academic characteristics, we focus on the declared majors of students as well as their observable academic outcomes. We conclude with a discussion on policy implications.

1.1 Growth of the Program and Current Fiscal Climate Figure 1 shows the growth of Pell Grant receipt among community college

students in their first term of enrollment, based on a sample of first-time-in-college student cohorts that attended community colleges from academic year 2005?06 through 2010?11. In the 2005?06 cohort, about 14 percent of first-time college students in the sample received a Pell Grant. By the time the 2010?11 cohort enrolled, the proportion had risen to over 26 percent (an increase of more than 80 percent). National data on students at all institutions during this period show an equally substantial increase in the Pell Grant program, in terms of number of recipients, average grant received per student,

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