Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

8-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph. D.

Department

Educational Leadership, Evaluation and Organizational Development

Degree Program

Educational Leadership and Organizational Development, PhD

Committee Chair

Gross, Jacob

Committee Member

Rollins, Aaron

Committee Member

George, Casey

Committee Member

Bergman, Mathew

Author's Keywords

Higher education; financial aid; temporal; persistence; departure

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the foundations of higher education in the United States, intensifying long-standing disparities in access and success for marginalized student populations. While increased federal investment in higher education has expanded college access over the past century, persistence and degree completion inequities remain, particularly for underrepresented students. This dissertation investigates the influence of financial aid on first-time institutional departure among full-time undergraduates at four-year institutions in Kentucky. This study uses a longitudinal dataset and discrete-time event historical analysis to examine the timing and likelihood of stop-out events. It explores whether the type and amount of financial aid received—grants, loans, and work-study—affect departure risk over time. Particular attention is given to the role of race and ethnicity in shaping students’ financial aid patterns and departure. The study also evaluates whether financial aid interacts with student characteristics such as socioeconomic factors, academic preparation, and gender. Findings offer insight into how financial support systems contribute to disparities in retention and suggest implications for policy and practice aimed at reducing equity gaps. This research extends the literature on financial aid and student departure by incorporating time-varying predictors and interaction effects. It provides a nuanced understanding of how financial resources impact student stop-out behavior over time.

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