A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Biennial Evaluation Report - FY 93-94

Chapter 507

State Student Incentive Grants

(CFDA No. 84.069)

I. Program Profile

Legislation: Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, Title IV, Part A, Subpart 4, enacted P.L. 92-318, as amended, P.L. 94-482, 95-43, 96-374, 99-498, 102-325, 103-208 (20 U.S.C. 1070c to 1070c-4) (expires September 30, l997).

Purpose: To make incentive grants to States to assist in providing grant and work-study assistance to students attending postsecondary educational institutions.

Funding History

Fiscal Year	Appropriation	Fiscal Year	Appropriation
1974	$19,000,000	1987	$76,000,000
1975	20,000,000	1988	72,762,000
1980	76,750,000	1989	71,889,000
1981	76,750,000	1990	59,181,000
1982	73,680,000	1991	63,530,000
1983	60,000,000	1992	72,000,000
1984	76,000,000	1993	72,429,000
1985	76,000,000	1994	72,429,000
1986	72,732,000

II. Program Information and Analysis

Population Targeting and Services

State Student Incentive Grant (SSIG) awards are available to full-time and part-time students attending postsecondary institutions at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Students must demonstrate substantial financial need based on formulas established by the States and approved by the Secretary of Education. All States make awards to full-time students and some also make awards to part-time students. Reporting of awards to part-time students has been discontinued and no data are available on the number of States exercising this option. In academic year 1991-92, nine States served graduate as well as undergraduate students.

Participation: In the 1992-93 academic year, SSIG Federal funds of $72 million, matched by $632.5 million in State funds for a total of $704.5 million, were distributed to 684,867 recipients, with awards averaging $1,035. Figure 1 shows the changes in average award over the past 8 years.

Some States provide much more than their required match, but it is difficult to identify the distribution of these funds before the 1990-91 award year when these data were first collected. Including SSIG and other non-SSIG State aid programs, the States distributed over $2.346 billion in aid grants in 1993-93, up from about $2.148 billion in the previous year.

Source: III.1.

Distribution By Sector: The distribution of program funds and of aid recipients across different sectors of postsecondary education has varied only slightly over the past nine years. As shown in Tables 1 and 2, public 4-year institutions account for 44 percent of the total dollars awarded and 43 percent of SSIG recipients in 1992-93. Private 4-year institutions have about half as many participants as public 4-year schools, but a roughly equal share of the dollars. As a result, awards at private schools are nearly twice the size of awards at public institutions, probably because private-school costs generally are higher than public-school costs.

Table 1

Percentage Distribution of SSIG Funds by Type of Institution
Award Years 1984-85 to 1992-93

Award Year	Four-Year Public	Four-Year Private Nonprofit	Two-Year Public & Private Nonprofit	Proprietary
1992-93	44.4	44.1	18.8	3.0
1991-92	40.5	40.2	15.8	3.1
1990-91	37.6	42.8	15.8	3.0
1989-90	44.3	38.8	14.4	2.5
1988-89	40.5	43.0	14.1	2.4
1987-88	42.1	43.4	12.8	1.7
1986-87	44.6	39.7	13.7	2.0
1985-86	43.5	39.6	14.6	2.3
1984-85	41.7	42.2	12.8	3.2

Source: III.1.

Note: Figures in Tables 1 and 2 may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding and due to the less than one percent of institutions that do not fall into the four types listed.

Table 2

Percentage Distribution of SSIG Recipients by Type of Institution
Award Years 1984-85 to 1992-93

Award Year	Four-Year Public	Four-Year Private Nonprofit	Two-Year Public & Private Nonprofit	Proprietary
1992-93	43.0	26.0	26.7	3.0
1991-92	43.0	27.0	25.0	2.2
1990-91	42.6	28.7	24.5	3.1
1989-90	50.0	24.7	22.7	2.6
1988-89	49.9	24.7	23.0	2.4
1987-88	51.8	26.1	20.4	1.7
1986-87	51.9	26.9	18.4	2.8
1985-86	51.5	24.7	21.5	2.3
1984-85	51.8	26.8	18.6	2.8

Source: III.1.

Distribution by Income: SSIG awards go primarily to lower-income students. Figure 2 shows the percentage of SSIG recipients with family incomes below $20,000 per year (not adjusted for inflation) over an 8-year span. If real income levels were used, e.g., constant 1984-85 dollars, the figure would probably show an increase in the percentage of awards going to lower-income students over time.

Source: III.1.

Program Administration

Each State designates an agency to be responsible for the administration of SSIG funds. The agency may be part of the State government, the State's education department, the organization managing other State grant or loan programs, or a designated corporation acting for the State. The agency receives Federal SSIG funds, matches them at least dollar for dollar with State funds, and distributes them to students (or to institutions for disbursement to students) eligible under the SSIG program.

States determine which institutions are eligible to participate in the SSIG program, although all public and private nonprofit institutions of higher education are eligible to participate unless specifically excluded in the State's constitution or by a State law enacted before October 1, 1978. In addition, 28 States provided SSIG funding for eligible students attending proprietary (private, for-profit) institutions.

Outcomes

Federal and State matching SSIG funds accounted for nearly 30 percent of all academic year 1992-93 State grant dollars awarded to students for postsecondary study.

Management Improvement Strategies

States are provided with checking procedures (edits) to review their data to assure accuracy. The Department reviews all State reports annually for the accuracy of application and performance data. In addition, the Department provides case-by-case assistance to the States regarding various administrative aspects of the program and distributes appropriate guidance to all participating entities.