Revisiting Bennett’s Hypothesis: The Unintended Effects of Student Financial Aid on the Cost of College

Category

Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences > Humanities > Education

Received

July 2, 2024

Accepted

October 5, 2024

Published

April 1, 2025

Authors

Mark Jayson FarolFollow

Authors

Mark Jayson Farol¹*

Author Affiliations

¹Department of Economics, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA.

Corresponding Author

*Mark Jayson Farol, farolm1@unlv.nevada.edu

DOI

https://doi.org/10.9741/2766-7227.1033

Author Contributions

¹MJF: Contributed conceptualization, data collection, data analysis, methodology, drafting paper, and reviewing and editing of the manuscript.

Copyright

Articles in Spectra are freely available under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) which allows others to re-use the work without permission as long as the work is properly cited.

Data Availability Statement

The author of this article confirms that all included sources are fully available without restrictions.

Conflicts of Interest

The author declares that no conflicts of interest exist.

Ethical Considerations

Given that this project did not involve human or animal subjects, no IRB or IACUC approval was needed. All research was derived from publicly shared sources.

Abstract

As higher education strives to be more inclusive, escalating tuition costs pose a significant barrier to accessibility. Government efforts to increase federal financial aid aim to mitigate this issue, but according to William Bennett’s hypothesis, such interventions may inadvertently increase college costs. This study investigates Bennett’s Hypothesis with the latest cross-sectional data from the National Center for Education Statistics. Focusing on 2-year and 4-year U.S. public and private nonprofit colleges, the study examines the effects of government and institutional financial aid on the cost of attendance. The analysis is structured around financial aid packaging institutional, charging variances, and financial aid determinants that provide evidence supporting Bennett’s Hypothesis, revealing a correlation between financial aid and rising tuition costs across different types of institutions.

Keywords

Bennett’s Hypothesis, Tuition, Financial Aid, Federal Financial Aid, Institutional Grant, Higher Education

Submission Type

Primary research article

Recommended Citation

Farol, M. J. (2025). Revisiting Bennett’s Hypothesis: The Unintended Effects of Student Financial Aid on the Cost of College. Spectra Undergraduate Research Journal, 4(1), 33-43.https://doi.org/10.9741/2766-7227.1033