The Effect of the Financial Aid Offer on the Enrollment Decision of Students Accepted to Linfield College

This paper analyzes the effects of financial aid on the enrollment decision of students accepted to Linfield College for the academic year starting fall 2007. It uses data obtained from Linfield about those accepted students, as well as data from the International Postsecondary Education Data System. A model previously used by Moore, Studenmund, and Slobko for students accepted to Occidental in 1989 and Ehrenberg and Sherman for students accepted to Cornell in 1981 is used as the basis for this research. Logit probabilities of enrollment likelihood are used, based on student demographics, financial aid offers, and costs of attendance at Linfield and an alternative school. We find results similar to Moore, Studenmund, and Slobko, and Ehrenberg and Sherman in that net costs affect the probability of enrollment for accepted students. Interpretation of these results indicates that accepted students are sensitive to the costs they face when making their college decision, and that lower net costs of attending Linfield increases the likelihood of enrollment at Linfield