Merit-Based Scholarships

Question A: Merit based scholarships for Ohio high school students who attend college in Ohio will increase retention of human capital for Ohio's workforce.

Question B: Merit based scholarships for Ohio high school students who attend college in Ohio will have economic benefits that outweigh costs.

Question C: Merit based scholarships for Ohio high school students who attend college in Ohio will increase inequality in Ohio.

Question A: Merit based scholarships for Ohio high school students who attend college in Ohio will increase retention of human capital for Ohio's workforce.

Economist	Institution	Opinion	Confidence	Comment
Jonathan Andreas	Bluffton University	Agree	5	Research shows that getting students to attend college in a region leads to positive spillovers that stay in the region, but I don't know if the payoff would be worth the cost. It would probably be more effective to spend the money on loan forgiveness for students to remain as Ohio residents after graduation, but that would be best announced in advance so it doesn't just pay students who had already decided to stay in state without any additional incentive. Ideally, the loans should be sold to incoming students as grants that are only converted to loans if students leave the state to work within a set period of time.
Bizuayehu Bedane	Marietta College	Strongly Agree	9
David Brasington	University of Cincinnati	Strongly Agree	10	Studies show increased probability for university graduates to get jobs near where they graduate from
Kenneth Fah	Ohio Dominican University	Uncertain	10
Paul Holmes	Ashland University	Agree	5	I expect the merit-based scholarships to effect a very small increase in human capital retention for Ohio's workforce. A student planning to attend college out-of-state is unlikely to be swayed by this, but some would be. This debate should be informed by data: how many of the proposed recipients typically head out-of-state for college? It seems like this would be a blunt tool to effect a quite small difference.
Michael Jones	University of Cincinnati	Uncertain	8	This proposal will likely keep more students in Ohio, but perhaps at lower levels of human capital. Ohio high school students may be able to achieve higher levels of human capital by graduating from top universities located in other parts of the world.
Charles Kroncke	Mount Saint Joseph University	Uncertain	5
Joe Nowakowski	Muskingum University	Agree	8
Curtis Reynolds	Kent State University	Uncertain	8	I am not sure how much this would actually keep high-performing students in state for college. Out-of-state tuition is much higher so some will stay in state anyways, but these are all high-performing students who may get scholarships anyway. Furthermore, it is not clear that they would stay AFTER college.
Kay Strong	Independent	Agree	9
Albert Sumell	Youngstown State University	Agree	8	I think it could have a marginal impact. If more top students stay in Ohio for college, it makes sense that some of these top students will also stay in Ohio post-graduation.
Ejindu Ume	Miami University	Agree	7
Kathryn Wilson	Kent State University	Strongly Agree	9	Keeping high-achievement students in Ohio for college is a good way to increase the likelihood that they ultimately become workers in the Ohio workforce.
Rachel Wilson	Wittenberg University	Agree	9

Question B: Merit based scholarships for Ohio high school students who attend college in Ohio will have economic benefits that outweigh costs.

Economist	Institution	Opinion	Confidence	Comment
Jonathan Andreas	Bluffton University	Uncertain	2	I tend to agree that it is a fine use of money, but whether it is the most cost effective depends upon what opportunity cost one is comparing it to and need-based aid is probably more cost effective because high-ability students who do not meet need-based requirements typically have low-elasticity demand whereas there are a lot of good, low-income students in the 50-90%ile who are not getting an education due to costs and wouldn't be eligible for this program.
Bizuayehu Bedane	Marietta College	Agree	9
David Brasington	University of Cincinnati	Agree	6	For STEM majors, sure; for folklore majors, less clear
Kenneth Fah	Ohio Dominican University	Uncertain	10
Paul Holmes	Ashland University	Uncertain	7	This is tricky to answer, because the scholarships aren't free: they need to be paid for either by increased (or not-decreased) taxes etc., or through decreased funding for other government-funded activities. Are merit-based scholarships a more effective tool (than alternatives) for the government to achieve economic improvement for the state as a whole? I personally doubt it, but I could be swayed by evidence.
Michael Jones	University of Cincinnati	Uncertain	5	It's unclear if Ohio's top universities will commit to expanding capacity to accommodate more students.
Charles Kroncke	Mount Saint Joseph University	Uncertain	5
Joe Nowakowski	Muskingum University	Agree	8
Curtis Reynolds	Kent State University	Agree	7	I think it is worthwhile to reduce the cost of college for students in a clear way. The current system is quite confusing because scholarships are given as part of admission, so students do not really know what types of schools they can afford to go to. This simple solution would make sense. Alternatively, the money could be spent in other ways to keep college costs down up front.
Kay Strong	Independent	Agree	9
Albert Sumell	Youngstown State University	Strongly Agree	9	Many studies have shown that investments that incentivize students to attend college are worthwhile.
Ejindu Ume	Miami University	Agree	8
Kathryn Wilson	Kent State University	Strongly Agree	9	Keeping these high-achieving students in the state will help the Ohio economy grow, benefiting not only Ohio businesses and residents, but ultimately increasing Ohio tax revenues as well.
Rachel Wilson	Wittenberg University	Agree	9

Question C: Merit based scholarships for Ohio high school students who attend college in Ohio will increase inequality in Ohio.

Economist	Institution	Opinion	Confidence	Comment
Jonathan Andreas	Bluffton University	Agree	8	Again, the answer depends upon the opportunity cost and my answer is in comparison to using the money for a need-based scholarship program for well-qualified prospective students. Purely merit-based aid increases inequality relative to need-based aid and is less efficient at the stated goals of increasing college attainment and keeping human capital in Ohio.
Bizuayehu Bedane	Marietta College	Disagree	9
David Brasington	University of Cincinnati	Agree	7	College graduates earn more than non-graduates, thus increasing inequality
Kenneth Fah	Ohio Dominican University	Uncertain	10
Paul Holmes	Ashland University	Agree	8	These benefits go to people who are likely to be high earners anyway.
Michael Jones	University of Cincinnati	Uncertain	5	What kind of inequality? Education levels? Wealth?
Charles Kroncke	Mount Saint Joseph University	Uncertain	6	A better option would be to lower tuition at State Universities.
Joe Nowakowski	Muskingum University	Disagree	7
Curtis Reynolds	Kent State University	Agree	7	It depends on how they are designed. What was removed from the budget would be scholarships for the top 5% of students in each high school. That would reduce some of the inequalities that are inherent in our unconstitutional K-12 funding system (DeRolph v State of Ohio). But other versions could increase inequality if they just reinforce those underlying disparities.
Kay Strong	Independent	Uncertain	8
Albert Sumell	Youngstown State University	Uncertain	5	I doubt it would have an impact on inequality but I would need to research the empirical evidence on this in order to comment
Ejindu Ume	Miami University	Disagree	7
Kathryn Wilson	Kent State University	Uncertain	5	The award will go to those who graduate in the top 5% of their class, which includes the top 5% of students in lower-income school districts. While within any given school it is likely that the top 5% come from families with higher socioeconomic status, giving the scholarship across all the schools may not increase inequality as much as expected.
Rachel Wilson	Wittenberg University	Uncertain	6