The literature available on financial aid addresses how aid promotes access and equal educational opportunity by enabling students to matriculate into college. The literature also discusses how financial aid impacts students’ ability to persist to degree completion. However, there seems to be little research on how financial aid affects students’ lives while they are in college. The present study attempted to address this gap in the existing literature by examining the differences in quality of life between college students receiving financial aid and those not receiving such aid.
For purposes of this study, quality of life was defined by four dimensions culled from the literature: (a) material possessions; (b) housing; (c) use of time; and (d) support mechanisms. Financial aid was defined as any need-based grant, loan, or work-study money awarded to a student.
Data were collected using the Quality of Life survey developed specifically for this study. The survey consisted of 59 items that were designed to measure the four dimensions of students’ quality of life. The target sample for this study consisted of 600 first year undergraduate students: 300 financial aid recipients and 300 non-aid recipients.
The findings revealed significant differences in three of the four areas: material possessions, use of time, and support mechanisms. These findings suggest that those who administer financial aid programs and those responsible for creating financial aid policies may wish to consider the role financial aid plays in the quality of life of students.
