Do State Academic Merit Scholarships Discriminate Against African Americans?
By Kenneth E. Redd
One of the biggest concerns for many families is how they are going to pay their children’s college expenses. In the academic year 2002-2003, the average cost of attendance at four-year public colleges and universities was more than $9,100, while the average price of attendance at private institutions was almost $21,700, according to the College Board.
Concerns are even greater for African Americans who enroll in college at lower rates and generally have less income available to pay college costs than Whites. A number of states have responded to families’ anxiety about rising college prices by instituting academic merit scholarship programs, which use high school grades or scores on standardized tests to award state-funded grants to students entering higher education. Supporters of state-based merit aid believe these scholarships encourage hard work in high school, reward meritorious academic achievement and increase college-going rates for all students. But there is mounting evidence that merit awards do little more than provide additional scholarship funds to middle- and upper-income White students at the expense of college access for low-income African Americans.
