34th Annual Survey Report on State-Sponsored Student Financial Aid, 2002-2003 Academic Year
Author: National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP)
Date: 2004-05-24
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Expenditures,Awards,State Aid,Student Financial Aid,Grants,Tuition,National Surveys,Undergraduate Students,Financial Support,Graduate Students,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 34th annual survey, represents data from academic year 2002-03. Data highlights include: (1) In the 2002-03 academic year, the states awarded about $6.9 billion in total state-funded student financial aid, an absolute increase of more than 9 percent from the $6.3 billion in aid awarded in 2001-2002 and an increase of about 7 percent in constant dollar terms; (2) The majority of state aid is in the form of grants. In 2002-03 more than 3.2 million awards were made representing about $5.8 billion in need and nonneed-based grant aid, an increase of more than 12 percent from the $5.1 billion in grants awarded in 2001-2002. Of the grant funds awarded, 73 percent were need-based and 27 percent were nonneed-based. Need-based aid represented about 75 percent of grant aid awarded in 2001-02; (3) Funding for undergraduate need-based grant aid increased $140 million nationwide from just more than $3.8 billion in 2001-02 to nearly $4 billion in 2002-03, an increase of almost 4 percent, smaller than past year increases for this type of aid; (4) Six states (California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas) collectively awarded almost $2.5 billion in undergraduate need-based grant aid, accounting for nearly 63 percent of all aid of this type; and (5) States provided about $1.1 billion in nongrant student aid, including loans, loan assumptions, conditional grants, work-study, and tuition waivers. Loans and tuition waivers accounted for 62 percent of nongrant funds awarded. Forty-three reporting entities identified state-funded undergraduate programs with awards based solely on need, while 27 identified programs with awards based only on merit. Exclusively need-based aid constituted 57 percent of all aid to undergraduates, exclusively merit-based aid accounted for 18 percent, with the rest, 25 percent, accounted for by other programs and by programs with both need and merit components. The amount of aid awarded in 2002-03 through programs with a merit component decreased from slightly more than $2 billion to about $1.8 billion. This compares to $3.6 billion awarded to undergraduates through programs with no merit component. South Carolina, 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. These same states also provided the most undergraduate grant dollars compared to undergraduate full time equivalent enrollment. Georgia, South Carolina, Vermont, and New York had the highest proportion of total expenditures for state-funded grants compared to appropriations for higher education operating expenditures. (Contains 6 figures and 14 tables.) [For the &quot;35th Annual Survey Report on State-Sponsored Student Financial Aid, 2003-2004 Academic Year&quot; see ED528299.]