36th Annual Survey Report on State-Sponsored Student Financial Aid, 2004-2005 Academic Year
Author: National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP)
Date: 2005-00-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: National Surveys,State Aid,Student Financial Aid,Grants,Undergraduate Students,Graduate Students,Expenditures,Financial Support,Student Loan Programs,Merit Scholarships

Each year, the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP) completes a survey regarding state-funded expenditures for postsecondary student financial aid. This report, the 36th annual survey, represents data from academic year 2004-05. Data highlights of this survey include: (1) In the 2004-2005 academic year, the states awarded about $7.9 billion in total state funded student financial aid, an increase of more than 8 percent in nominal terms from the $7.3 billion in aid awarded in 2003-2004 and an increase of about 6 percent in constant dollar terms; (2) The majority of state aid is in the form of grants. In 2004-05, slightly more than 3.5 million awards were made representing about $6.7 billion in need and nonneed-based grant aid, an increase of more than 8 percent from the $6.2 billion in grants awarded in 2003-2004. Of the grant funds awarded in 2004-05, 73 percent was need-based and 27 percent was nonneed-based. Need-based aid represented about 74 percent of grant aid awarded in 2003-04; (3) Funding for undergraduate need-based grant aid increased $445 million nationwide from about $4.2 billion in 2003-04 to more than $4.7 billion in 2004-05, an increase of more than 10 percent; (4) Eight states (California, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas) collectively awarded more than $3.1 billion in undergraduate need-based grant aid, accounting for about 67 percent of all aid of this type; and (5) States provided more than $1.7 billion in nongrant student aid, including loans, loan assumptions, conditional grants, work-study, and tuition waivers. Loans and tuition waivers accounted for 69 percent of nongrant funds awarded. Forty-four reporting entities identified state-funded undergraduate programs with awards based solely on need, while 22 identified programs with awards based only on merit. Exclusively need-based aid constituted 49 percent of all aid to undergraduates, exclusively merit-based aid accounted for 16 percent, with the rest, 35 percent, accounted for by other programs and by programs with both need and merit components. The amount of undergraduate aid awarded in 2004-05 through programs with a merit component decreased very slightly to just more than $2 billion. This compares to $3.5 billion awarded to undergraduates through programs based only on need. South Carolina, Washington DC, Georgia, New York, and Indiana, provided the greatest amount of grant aid on a per capita basis and the largest amount of aid per capita for the population between ages 18 and 24. South Carolina, Georgia, New York, Kentucky, and New Jersey provided the most undergraduate grant dollars compared to undergraduate full time equivalent enrollment. South Carolina, Georgia, New York, Vermont, and Indiana had the highest proportion of total expenditures for state-funded grants compared to appropriations for higher education operating expenditures. (Contains 14 tables and 6 figures.)