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Article: Merit scholarships aid students who achieve
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- November 19, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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There is an ongoing debate in higher education circles about the
"fairness" of merit scholarships.
Critics claim that they rob from the poor to give to the rich;
that they dilute institutional resources that could be committed to
program enhancement; that they are merely a cynical attempt on the
part of some colleges to "buy" bright students.
The current need-based system was initiated in order to bring
some consistency, method and fairness to the collegiate aid process.
But it's not infallible. During the Reagan-Bush years, federal
guidelines for need-based financial aid have been consistently
narrowed in order to exclude more and more American families from
meeting the qualifying ...