Table 2: Correlation Matrix for KEES Award Measures
Measure Average Base Average Award Average Bonus
Percent of students earning award .67*** .97*** .43***
Average base award .82*** .31***
Average award per student .42***
*** statistically significant at .001
Evidence from individual level studies finds students from higher socioeconomic
status levels receive a disproportionate amount of merit scholarships. Our
primary focus is on the relationship between schools rather than within schools.
To explore how the economic backgrounds of schools affect the distribution of
awards, we first compare means between the wealthiest and poorest schools. The
free or reduced-price lunch is commonly used to denote school population
socioeconomic status. Using an independent t-test, we compared 20 schools with
the largest number of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch with 20
schools with having the fewest number of students receiving free or reduced-
price lunch (see Table 3). In terms of base awards, the gaps between the wealthy
and poor schools result primarily from the difference in the number of students
who earned the awards versus those who did not. The difference between the
two groups for average base awards was just over $20, but the schools with fewer
subsidized lunches had 15% more students earning awards. The gap for the
supplemental award was more than four times the base award difference. The
means tests attained statistical significance at p=.01 (two-tail test) for all four
comparisons. These findings suggest that schools with a higher share of students
receiving free or reduced-price lunches earn fewer awards and receive smaller
award amounts. The simple bivariate comparison of means provides evidence
that that the graduated awards structure increases the regressivity of KEES
distributions.
Table 3: t-test for Independent Means
20 Schools with 20 Schools with
Lowest Percentage Highest Percentage Statistical
Measure Subsidized Lunches Subsidized Lunches Significance
Percent of students earning award 67% 52% 0.000
Average base award $332 $312 0.003
Average award per students $223 $164 0.000
Average bonus award $284 $190 0.000
An analysis of the correlations between the percentage of students receiving
free lunches and distribution of KEES awards (presented in Table 4) reinforces the
findings from Table 3. The correlations between the number of students
receiving free or reduced lunch and the three base awards measures are moderate
but attain significance at the .001 level. The correlation (-0.64) is much stronger
between the size of the supplemental award and the percentage of students
receiving subsidized lunches. The bivariate analysis indicates that granting awards
34 Journal of Student Financial Aid Volume 39 • Number 1 • 2009
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