7
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
"Poverty must not be a bar to learning, and learning must be an escape from poverty." These words were spoken by President Lyndon B. Johnson in his "Great Society" speech of 1964 (Johnson, 1964).
In Nigeria as well as in other countries, education is perceived as a tool for socio-economic and political developments and as such it is accorded the necessary attention. This position is amplified in the Nigeria's National Policy on Education, which stated that education is an instrument par excellence for effecting national development (FGN, 2004). It is added further that education shall continue to be highly rated in the national development plans because education is the most important instrument of change and that any fundamental change in the intellectual and social outlook of any society has to be preceded by educational revolution.
The obvious importance of knowledge creation to development has long placed universities at the centre of the efforts of governments to increase the rate at which their economies grow. Around the world, as the processes of globalization and technological revolution create greater demands on firms and nation states to compete more effectively, countries and firms are turning to universities to assist in the development of innovative capacity. The pride of educational system depends not just on the quantity but more importantly, on the quality of its products at all levels. The quality of the products in turn depends largely on the quality of the education diet that students receive in tertiary institutions and which is also dependent upon the standard of control that lecturers and students enjoy. It has been observed that, the problem of adequate and effective quality control has been responsible for producing students who remain half-baked and could not assist the society in which they find themselves (Erinle & Abioye, 2003).
Financial aid, coming in the three major forms of grant, loan, and job, is what makes higher education affordable to the children of families who would otherwise be excluded by price. Financial aid in all three forms comes from a variety of sources, predominantly being institutional, state, and federal. Much research has been done investigating the impact of various forms of financial aid on students social behaviors, needs (housing, standard of living, feeding, clothing,), resources (books, and financial security), college entry, eventual college graduation, and future earnings, yet not much has been done on students academic performance outcomes both positive or negative. This study looks to focus on one specific possible externality of financial aid's impact on academic performance. Since the point of any institution is to learn, academic performance takes a central role in defining whether or not learning has occurred. Hence, any effects that a financial aid package may have on academic performance would need to be seriously considered when discussing policy changes that adjust the makeup of grant, loan, and job in meeting a student's need. Any type of financial aid is better than none when there is a strong need, but the potential consequences are not always obvious.
This research study was prompted due to the variations in academic performances of students in tertiary institutions. The teriary institutions comprises of students from various social background/status, like those from a wealthy family, those who sponsor themselves thorough pat-time jobs they acquire, and those from low income (poor) family. It is known that students from low income family do perform better than students from wealthy homes, and sometimes better than students assisted with financial aids through scholarship or loans. Students under the financial scheme programs are known to have everything i.e. books, social needs; good houses, financial security, at their disposal, which thus support their academic performance and study life. However, this can not be said to be seen with those from the low income family or without financial aids, but yet, we find such students even doing better than their counterpart.
Therefore, the research finds it imperative to study if any, the impact of financial aids on students' academic performance.
1.2 Statement of the research problems
The high rate of dropout of students from tertiary institutions due to poor academic performance cannot be overemphasized. It has also been observed that the academic performance of most students in the tertiary institutions has been very poor, which have led to producing half-baked graduates. Therefore, many wonders' if financial aids such as; scholarships or students loan, could be a strong policy instrument in improving students success. While there is some evidence to support the connection between student persistence and financial aids (e.g., Cabrera, Nora & Castaneda, 1993; Bettinger, 2004), additional research is needed to better understand the causal impact of aid on a number of measures of college success. The study provides answers to the under stated research questions and hypothesis.
1.3 Purpose of the study
The research attempt to determine the relationship between financial aids and students' academic performance in the tertiary institutions. This was carried out to recommend solution to problems of low academic performance in our educational system.
The study sought to find out:
1. The various types of financial aids available in the in the tertiary institutions.
2. The impact of the financial aids on students' academic performance.
1.4 Significance of the Study
This research will serve as an avenue for encouraging the government (federal, state, local) into providing targeted financial aids scheme and students' loan programs that will make funds available to all students who wish to borrow for their higher education. It would also help in benefiting the students from poor background in their social and academic needs, since the loan received is to cover the direct cost of education (tuition, fees, and educational supplies, including computers) and in some cases, living expenses until they finish their studies. And finally, produce students of excellent performance that would have positive impacts on the social economy of the country.
1.5 Research Questions
The research questions are in lieu of research hypotheses. The study sought to find answers to the following questions:
1. Is there any correlation between financial aids and students' academic performance in tertiary institutions?
2. Does financial aids predict the academic performance of students in tertiary institutions?
3. Does availability of financial aids predict the academic performance of students in tertiary institutions?
4. Will the provision of financial aids predict the academic performance of students in tertiary institutions?
1.6 Scope of the Study
The scope of this study focus on any effects that financial aid package may have on academic performance of students. It is delimited to 200level – 500 level students respectively, who are pursuing various degrees in sciences and engineering in the federal university of technology yola, in Girei local government area.
1.7 Definition of Terms
1. Financial aid: Are the monetary inputs or resources available for students'
educational program. These include money allocated by government
scholarship grants, private organization, or through part-time job.
2. Students': are the beneficiary of the financial scheme that is meant to aid their educational program.
3. Academic performance: refers to students' performance in their various
courses at different level of studies.
4. Gates Millennium Scholarship (GMS): is a private body that gives
Scholarship to students' of Illinois Wesleyan University.
CHAPTER TWO
Review of Literature
Introduction
Review of literature relevant to the study is discussed under the following
headings:
Financial Aids
Academic Performance
Financial Aid and Academic Performance
Financial aid and students' success
2.2 Financial Aids
Financial aid in higher education functions to make tuition affordable, but also is used by the university as a method of price discrimination. Price discrimination occurs when a firm with market power charges a different price to different customers in order to capture more consumer surplus than they would if they had just charged a single price. If a firm changes its price to match the consumer's particular reservation price, the maximum price a consumer will pay for a good, and then the firm leaves no room for the possibility of consumer surplus (Pindyck, Rubinfeld and Daniel, 2005). Since families seeking financial aid are required to disclose information about income and wealth, colleges know how much a family has to spend on education. However, this is not the case in Nigeria, scholarship is only awarded to students' based on merit from private bodies like; Shell, Texaco-Mobil, Liquefied Nigeria Gas (LNG) e.t.c., Federal Government Boards; Petroleum Trust Development Fund (PTDF), or indigenous means (States government scholarships) and many more. In reality, differing family values may determine a family's willingness to pay, but how much they have for spending in the first place is also important. Thus, an institution can charge very high tuition and award financial aid on individual basis such that the price of education is reduced to a level that is "affordable" in the eyes of the consumer. As Ibid, (2005) puts it, "students who are financially well off, pay more for their education, while students who are less well off, pay less". Financial aid in American higher education has seen many changes and has evolved into a very complicated process both as a result of the accuracy of the measure of ability to pay and the ethical issues that surround the distribution of money.
The Federal Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) is a document that all students must fill out if they intend to receive financial aid. The process can be so complex that it may deter students from ever applying for and receiving aid (Dynarski and Judith, 2006). Beyond determining the need of a student, however, there are several other important policy considerations that often require much debate. Affirmative action's in higher education admission often overshadow the related debate about giving more money to promote the matriculation of ethnically diverse students. William, Derek, and Glenn (1998) state that "what people have achieved often depends on the families they have grown up in, the neighborhoods in which they have lived and the schools they have attended…" It goes on to add that "racial differences that have been long in the making continue to thwart aspirations for an open and just society". For this reason, many colleges and universities, including Illinois Wesleyan University, choose to promote racial and ethnic diversity through increased grant amounts pegged as "diversity adjustments." These adjustments are additions that do not depend on future minimum grade attainment like merit scholarships and last for all four years. The importance of diversity adjustments to this study is simply that increased grant amounts may have an effect on future academic performance, and these adjustments were not made at random. This introduces some bias in the data since a specific demographic area was singled out and given more grant than others. This study recognizes this bias, yet the effect should be minimal since many unadjusted grants were also given to ethnic minorities.
2.3 Academic Performance
Academic performance of a student can be analyzed by thinking of a student as a firm having a production function in which the output is his or her academic performance, measured in this study through the proxy college grade point average, and the inputs are composed of the things that determine academic performance. Different firms (students) have different characteristics that require a different mix of inputs in order to maximize output. This means that if we assume that each firm maximizes output, we do not necessarily assume that each firm will use available inputs in the same way. Some students perform better in morning classes over evening classes; some students perform better through auditory learning techniques as opposed to reading a textbook; some students' performance may even be related by where they sit in a classroom. All of these decisions that students make are essentially ways in which they actively select inputs into their own production process, inputs which elevate or deter academic performance. The output of each class is a grade, and the average of several semesters' worth of outputs gives us a cumulative grade point average.
Academic performance doesn't always react to production function forces in a predictable manner. There is no way to correct for every little detail that influences how a student performs in classroom or cumulatively after having completed several courses during a four-year period. Despite this, classifications and general relationships between the inputs and outputs of these production functions can be identified in some cases. Within this theoretical construct, two important and universal inputs into the production of academic performance are ability and effort. Ability can do nothing without a trace of effort just as effort accomplishes nothing without some ability to act as guidance. Ability also can be spread out among many skills other than academic ones just as effort can be applied in areas other than academics even sometimes at the expense of academics. These two inputs are in a sense analogous to capital and labor in that ability is much like human capital and labor is exertion of effort. One could even consider a constant productivity variable that captures the productivity of things other than inherent ability and effort e.g. the time-saving computers and printers in The Ames Library. Consider the following production function:
Y = P f(A,E)
P in this function represents the constant productivity variable while A and E stand for ability and effort respectively. The direction of this study will be to find out whether or not financial aid amounts influence academic achievement. If this is found, then under this theoretical framework we may expect that financial aid actually influenced the two inputs of this production function, ability and effort.
2.4 Financial Aid and Academic Performance
Now that we have a general outline of how financial aid is used to price discriminate and how academic performance is produced using two core inputs, ability and effort, we can begin to examine the interaction financial aid and academic performance have on each other the major purpose of this research. This study adds to the literature through exactly that: its effort to detect the relationship between financial aid amounts given to a student and that student's eventual academic performance. Connections between financial aid amounts and measurements of success have been tested in the past. Arcidiacono, (2005) looked at how financial aid policies contribute to a student's decision to matriculate with a given university and their future earnings. The study wish focuses on black students mostly and finds that although there is a significant effect of financial aid on graduating blacks from college, there is little effect on earnings from race-based additional aid beyond the standard amounts. This suggests that perhaps additional aid beyond the amount that simply bridges the gap may not have much effect on future earnings. This could also say something about additional aid's effect on grade point average if we consider grades and future earnings to be linked. The three types of financial aid tested in this study are grant aid, loans, and on-campus jobs. Since these aid amounts must be used as explanatory variables, it is also necessary to include aid eligibility as is suggested by Alon (2006).
Before a discussion of aid eligibility, consider the effect of aid amounts on the two core determinants of grade point average effort and ability. A possible hypothesis regarding the effect of additional amounts of grant is a positive relationship between amount and effort. It is unlikely that giving a student grant money will immediately change the student's ability ceteris paribus. However, an argument can be made that additional money will encourage and motivate a student to apply effort since the student realizes that it is essentially a gift rather than a natural right. Additionally this grant money may free up effort that would otherwise have been devoted to a job. On the other hand, complacency in the mind of the student is also possible. A student may take for granted the fact that alumni's donations are subsidizing four years worth of education. This idea comes up in much policy discussion about welfare and whether or not a welfare recipient is truly motivated to find a job or not. I take the stance that increases in grant aid amounts will have small positive effects on academic performance. I base this theory largely on observed behavior among peers and concede the bias associated with it. Let us consider the ways in which the other types of financial aid affect the effort dimension of grade production. A loan is a legal contract that includes a promise that future payment with interest will be made in exchange for cash up front.
A student who takes out a loan or many loans will understand that the money is not a gift, merely a cash advance. This weakens the argument of complacency as it applies to the effect of loan aid on effort since, although procrastination is rampant on college campuses, it is also true that "money talks." In the case of loans, it is more likely the case that there exists a positive relationship between aid amount and academic performance. As the debt accumulates, so strengthens the urgency and importance surrounding grades. Grades are often believed to be connected to future earnings, and there exists much evidence to substantiate that belief. Jones and Jackson, (1990) found in their study of the determinants of future earnings that grade point average from a public university had a positive and significant effect on future earnings, even when correcting for a gamut of potential explanatory variables. Since there exists this positive relationship between grades and future earnings, or at least many think it exists, I predict students will focus more effort on grades and achieve a better grade point average if they have higher loan amounts.
Work study jobs, on the other hand, take away from effort in that they place time and attention requirements on students that take away from potential effort spent solely on academics. There may be some possible returns to ability depending on the job, but I choose to disregard this and hypothesize a negative link between work study aid and grade point average.
In the literature on this subject, Stinebrickner et al. (2003) identifies several biases that can come up in doing research on the effects of work study on academic performance. The data in this study includes only work study money offered whereas loan and grant aid data is money actually received. Lundberg, (2004) finds no significant effect of jobs on academic performance up to a maximum of 20 hours a week. This study, however, involved non-work study jobs and was conducted on a population that is an average of three years older than that of Illinois Wesleyan University. This three year gap may be enough to assume a significant difference in maturity levels associated with time management skills.
A student who receives high levels of grant due to a high level of aid eligibility may present a problem for researchers since aid eligibility is the biggest determinant of need based aid and may also suggest a lower socioeconomic status. The theory presented earlier, however, expects a small positive effect for increased grant aid amounts. Dealing with this problem of mixed signals is easy if aid eligibility and aid amount can be broken down into two separate constructs each independent of the other variable. Alon uses an instrumental variable to fix this problem, but I will not create such a variable of my own. Instead, I will rely on the institutional methodology for determining financial aid eligibility that is used in analyzing an Illinois Wesleyan University students need. This methodology uses data such as parents' income, student's income, family assets, and the number of other children currently enrolled an institution of higher education in determining the gross need of a student. The same methodology is applied to all students who without a FAFSA and the university's own proprietary document the Profile Form.
Other Potential Influences on Academic Performance In testing for whether or not a given variable affects academic performance, this study identifies what potentially affects the level of ability, the level of effort, or what other factors might influence academic performance. Certain classes that are grouped within the same major are taught by the same professor or are biased towards producing better grades given certain mixes of inputs. In other words, each department may have characteristics that produce a higher or lower grade point average than other departments. Because of the number and diversity of general education courses available at Illinois Wesleyan University, it is not feasible to weigh each class's difficulty, each professor's difficulty, each topic's difficulty, etc. However, since a large concentration of courses corresponding to a student's major are similar and are usually specific to one department, this study uses major as an explanatory variable.
Within this analogy of a production function for academic performance, major is a corrective component similar to a variable that might account for the market structure of a given industry rather than a measure or determinant of effort or ability. A dummy variable for presence of a double major is also included in order to pick up possible influences on academic ability of double majoring. Double-majoring is not easy to do, yet is somewhat common at IWU. Since double majoring requires extra planning and focus it is most likely a sign of a student with either good time management skills or high motivation to achieve something most do not. Good time management skills are part of ability and motivation is certainly a part of effort. Thus, presence of a double major will likely have a positive relationship with academic performance.
Since one is usually in school for 12 years before college, a student entering college likely comes with a great amount of ability from high school and schools previous to that. It is feasible that the ability a student has going into college is a major part of the ability a student will have throughout his or her college career. In considering a measure for ability, one must recognize that there exists some endogeneity in the ability variable, though. Over time previous ability coupled with effort can raise present ability to a higher level. Clearly, ability is dynamic and changes significantly as one progresses through college. Measuring a dynamic variable like this is tough since any static point gives merely a snapshot of reality. However, a measure of academic ability taken before a student ever enters college would provide an initial benchmark for where each student starts.
Since this proxy is available for all students who graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 2007 and is always taken before entering college, this study incorporates it into its model as a key explanatory variable. Scores from the SAT exam are easily converted into equivalent ACT scores through use of an official, institutionally used translation chart. This chart is distributed by the College Board and is commonly accepted by institutions of higher education across the nation.
When doing a formal study on financial aid's impact on college success there is an inherent susceptibility toward bias coming from the close relationship between need-based eligibility for aid and actual amounts of aid given (Alon, 2006). According to Alon, there is danger in simply using aid amount as an explanatory variable since this measurement has two dimensions, one explicit and one implicit. The explicit one is obviously the dollars actually distributed to a student whereas the implicit dimension is the relation that this amount has to overall eligibility for aid. Alon states that, "the same factors that enhance need-based aid eligibility such as economically disadvantaged family background are negatively related to persistence and graduation." Based on this assertion, and inferring a possible connection between persistence and graduation and academic performance, the presence of a negative impact of need-based eligibility and a positive impact of aid dollars distributed may obscure relationships and lead to inaccurate judgments. Including proxies for both grant amount and aid eligibility (financial need) is necessary even though they are closely related for the population of students with need. Including both variables should carve better results, not just bias coefficients because of co-linearity between the two variables.
2.5 Financial Aid and Students' Success
A number of studies document differences in the persistence patterns and academic success of aid recipients and non-recipients. For instance, St. John (1989) found that all types of aid packages were positively associated with year-to-year persistence during the 1970s and 1980s. Cabrera, Stampen, and Hansen (1990) explored the effects of one's ability to pay on persistence using a national sample of 1,375 college students attending public four-year institutions and found aid to have positive effects on student persistence. In other work using data on students at the University of Oregon, Singell (2004) documented that need- and merit-based aid significantly increased retention.
He supplemented this analysis with survey data on students who left the university and concluded that dropping out depends significantly on financial aid. Some research suggests the relationship between persistence and aid is stronger for lower income students. St. John and Chung (2002) found a strong correlation between financial barriers and persistence (re-enrollment) rates for poor and working-class students. Using data from the NPSAS, the researchers concluded that every $1000 increment in tuition fees reduced the probability of poor and working-class students re-enrolling in a college or university the following year by 16 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Other studies have also found that low-income students appear to be more responsive to financial aid than their middle and upper-class peers (St. John, 1990; 2003).
In terms of types of aid, need-based aid appears to have the largest correlation with access and persistence for low-income families (Wetzel, O'Toole, and Peterson, 1999; St. John et. al., 2004). Most studies on the effects of financial aid on persistence, however, do not adequately deal with the fact that aid recipients differ in important ways from non-recipients, and, as such, their results may be biased. In contrast, Bettinger (2004) uses quasi-experimental methods to study the causal effects of Pell Grants on persistence by exploiting differences in awards caused by small differences in family size and income. While his study suggests that aid positively impacts persistence, the results are not robust to various specifications. Much more research is needed to explore whether and how financial aid could impact student success and engagement, and that is the focus of this paper.
Financial aid could influence collegiate success in both direct and indirect ways. Directly, financial aid could help defray tuition and other costs, thus making persistence from one term to the next feasible. However, financial aid could have additional indirect effects by influencing some of the factors known to be related to student success. Academic preparation and studying in college are thought to be the most important factors in student success. Adelman (2006), in his national study on student degree completion concluded that the rigor of students' high school curriculum is the single most predictive factor in college degree attainment Merit aid in particular may give students increased confidence in their academic abilities thereby encouraging them to perform better academically. Financial aid may enable students to work less thereby allowing more time for such pursuits. In fact, research has found that working while in college reduces academic performance and increases time to degree (Stinebrickner and Stinebrickner, 2003). Less time working could also enable students to use institutional academic supports, such as advising resources, faculty help, and tutoring, which could help improve academic performance. The original goals of the GMS program were very much related at enabling students to work less while in college to allow them more time to focus on academics (Gertner, 2006). Less time working might also allow students to connect in other aspects of the institution, leading to stronger levels of student engagement with the campus community. Student engagement is comprised of three areas of integration: academic integration, social integration, and institutional commitment. Students who feel connected to their institution (either academically, socially, or both) are more likely to stay enrolled than those that feel disconnected, and students will drop out of college at the time their commitments to the institution and to their education are low (Tinto, 1975; Kuh et. al., 1991; Astin, 1993). If financial aid frees up the time a student has for activities such as extracurricular, it could increase student engagement and indirectly improve chances for success. While many theorize that financial aid could improve student success and highlight the above possible mechanisms to explain why, as noted above, little research actually documents a causal relationship between aid and collegiate outcomes. Moreover, there is scant evidence on how aid influences the building blocks of student success, notably work behavior, academic engagement, and involvement in extracurricular activities. The GMS program provides a unique opportunity to accomplish these goals by allowing us to examine the effects of a large grant on a number of factors related to academic and social engagement in college. Additionally, by focusing on a group of high achieving and motivated low-income students, we are able to isolate the effects of aid from other observable and non-observable characteristics.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
This chapter describes the research design, methods and procedures for data collection, study area, the instrument for data collection and method for data analysis.
3.2 Research Design
The study is a survey research which deals with the opinions from the population through the use of data gathering instrument such as questionnaire. A survey method requires items that are studied by collecting and analyzing data from only items considered being representative of the entire population or group (Akuezilo, 2002). It involves seeking peoples' opinions, perceptions and views on certain issues.
3.3 Study Population
The population comprises all 200 – 500 level students in the university. The sample or population for the study is 70 respondents, made up of 30students from sciences and 40 from engineering.
3.4 Sampling Techniques
The population samples were randomly selected from both school of sciences and engineering of the university.
3.5 Instrumentation
The instrument for the collection of data is a structured questionnaire. It is designed to elicit information from the students. The questionnaire is made up of 27 items. It is divided into two sections, namely A, B, C and D.
3.6 Method of Data Collection
The questionnaire was personally administered to the students and collection made immediately. This is to ensure that copies of the questionnaire are properly filled, completed and returned.
3.7 Method of Data Analysis and Presentation
The collected data were analyzed to answer the research questions. The statistical tools employed were simple frequency distribution, composite bar charts and percentage techniques for analyzing and representing the data collected.
Data collected were presented in a tabular form.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION
4.1 Introduction
In this chapter, data collected for the study are analyzed using appropriate statistical tool such as frequency distribution; percentage techniques and composite bar charts have been employed to analyze the data.
4.2 Presentation and Interpretation of Data/Tables/Figures
In this chapter, the data collected are hereby presented and analyzed in tabular form. Brief is also given.
Table 1: summary of questionnaire administered to all respondents.
Table 2: summary of gender ratio of questionnaire administered to all respondents.
Table 3- 6: show the analysis of the data collected.
CATEGORY
NO. GIVEN
NO. RETRIEVED
NO. NOT RETRIEVED
PERCENTAGE (%)
Students
70
59
11
84.29
Total
70
59
11
84.29
Table 1: Summary of Questionnaire Administered to all Respondents
From Table 1, it is clear that 59 (84.29%) of the administered questionnaires were retrieved. While 11(15.17%) of the administered questionnaire were not retrieved.
CATEGORY
NO. OF QUESTIONNAIRE
PERCENTAGE (%)
Male
40
67.80
Female
19
32.20
Total
59
100
Table 2: Distribution of Questionnaires on Gender
Table 2 shows that the highest numbers of respondents were males (67.80%) with females in (32.20%).
Figure 1: Respondents' views on Financial aids availability
The figure above indicates that financial aids are not available for students in the institution. Since the cut off point for effecting decision is 50%. However, there were weak evidences (45.76% & 35.59%) that showed the availability of financial aids.
Key:
Are financial aids available in your institution?
Is every student's under financial aids in your institution?
Are you under the federal govt. financial aid?
Are you under the state govt. (indigenous) financial aid?
Are you under the local government financial aid?
Are you under a private body (shell, texaco, mobil, L.N.G.) financial aid?
Are you under multiple financial aids?
Figure 2: Respondents' views on the Correlation of Financial Aids and
Academic Performance
The figure above shows that there is no significant relationship/correlation between financial aids and academic performance of students. Since 50% is the cut off point for effecting decision. However, there were weak evidences that showed correlation between financial aids and academic performance (45.76% & 42.37%).
Key:
Do students under financial aid perform better academically?
Does financial aid motivates students academically?
Does students academic performance depends largely on financial aids?
Do students without financial aids underperform academically?
Students under financial aids are always the best brain in class?
Students within the grade point 3.5 and above, are under the influence of financial aids?
Students without financial aids perform below academic standard?
Figure 3: Respondents' views on Financial Aids Predict Academic
Performance
The figure above indicates that there is no significant relationship between financial aids and prediction of academic performance. Since 50% is the cut off point for effecting decision.
Key:
Students who show excellent performance in continuous assessment, assignments e.t.c. are under financial aids?
Students who show distinct academic performance are under financial aids?
All academically sound students are under financial aids?
Students under financial aids all graduates with the best class of degrees?
The best overall students of the institution are mostly under financial aids?
Figure 4: Respondents' views on Provision/ Availability of Financial aids
Predict Academic Performance.
The figure above shows that there is no significant relationship between provision/availability of financial aids and prediction of academic performance. Since 50% is the cut off point for effecting decision. However, there is weak evidence that shows significant relationship between provision/availability of financial aids and academic performance (42.37%) .
Key:
Are students provided with financial aids yearly?
Does availability of financial aids to students prevent failures?
Does provision of financial aids to students ensures success?
Do students who are not under financial aids performs better academically?
Does students under financial aid who have their social needs (textbooks, clothing, good housing, feeding) secured perform best academically?
Does students without financial aid who have their social needs insecure perform best academically?
Does a student provided with financial aids find academic activities easy?
Does a student provided with financial aids perform above academic standard?
Findings of the study
The results of the study revealed the following findings;
Table 3 and Figure 1 shows that there is no significant relationship between financial aids availability and academic performance. However, there was weak evidence indicating the unavailability of financial aids in the institution.
In Table 4 and Figure 2, respondents' strongly disagreed that students without financial aids performs below academic standard. Furthermore, it shows strongly that there is no significant relationship/ correlation between financial aids and academic performance. However, there were weak evidences that support (agree) that there is correlation between financial aids and academic performance (items 1, 2, & 4).
In test item 3 of Table 5 and Figure 3, respondents strongly disagreed that all academically sound students are under financial aids. The results therefore indicate that there is no significant relationship between financial aids and prediction of students' academic performance.
Table 6 and Figure 4, indicates that there is no significant relationship between provisions of financial aids and students' academic performance. This can be seen from the test items 1-8, which could not make up to 50 %, cut off point for effecting decision. However, there is weak evidence from test item 3 that showed significant relationship between provision of financial aids and academic performance of students'.
Discussion of Findings/Results
This section discusses the findings/results analyzed in section 4.2 and 4.3 respectively, as it relates to research questions raised in section 1.5.
4.3.1 Research Question 1: Is there any correlation between financial aids and
students' academic performance in tertiary institutions?
The result in Table 4 indicated strongly that there is no significant correlation between financial aids and academic performance of students' in tertiary institutions. However, there are weak evidences that receipt of financial aids correlate students' academic performance positively. The finding is in consonance with (Lane, 2008) findings, which showed that loan amounts and jobs aid amount have no significant connection to academic performance. However, it is in contrast with the findings (Angela and Bridget, 2009) whose result indicated that the Gates Millennium Scholarship (GMS) program did appear to have a positive effect on the academic and social engagement behaviors of recipients. Similarly, the finding is consistent with other research on the link between financial aids and educational attainment by (Adelman, 2006; Bean, 1990).
4.3.2. Research Question 2: Does financial aids Predicts academic
performance of students in tertiary institutions?
The result in Table 5 indicated strongly that there is no significant relationship between the financial aids and prediction of students' academic performance. However, this finding is in contrast with the work of St. John (1989) who found that all types of aid packages were positively associated with year to year persistence of academic performance during the 1970s and 1980s. Similarly, Kim et. al., (1998) stressed that scholarships students' who continued in the scholarship program from 3rd - 4th grade continue to be very much like public school counter parts with respects to academic performance.
4.3.3 Research Questions: Does availability/Provisions of Financial aids
Predict Academic Performance.
The result in Table 6 indicated that there is no significant relationship between availability/provision of financial aids and the prediction of academic performance.
4.3.3 Research Questions; Does availability/Provisions of financial aids
Predict academic performance
The result in Table 6 indicated that there is no significant relationship between availability/provisions of financial aids and the prediction of academic performance. However, this findings is not in consonance with Lap-pun (1999), who stressed that the negative coefficients of loan variable in the regression model of suggest that the educational loans provided positive impacts on academic progression as it might ease the immediate financial burden of students' and degree completion. Similarly, Jenifer et. al., (2006) research finding showed that for example, students' who apply for financial assistance outperform those who do not apply for financial assistance because of their supposedly more stable financial situation. Yet, this finding is quite compatible with a global literature that recognizes the extent to which poor students' are averse to seeking out or unable to meet the requirements of financial assistance programs, and so choose not to apply, even while their academic performance suffers because of their inability to meet basic needs (Albrecht and Andrian, 1991).
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Introduction
This chapter summarizes the research findings/results as it relates to the research purpose shown in section 1.5.
5.2 Summary of the Findings
The study was a survey research. Descriptive survey design was therefore employed. Two specific purposes of study were identified. Four research questions were stated, based on the specific purposes to which answers were sought. The population consist of students of the Federal University of Technology-Yola (FUTY), in Girei Local Government Area, Adamawa State, who were in school of Sciences and Engineering respectively. A sample of seventy (70) respondents (students) made up of thirty (30) from sciences and forty (40) from engineering.
The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire, developed by the researcher. Copies of the questionnaires were personally administered by the researcher to the students' respondents. A total of fifty-nine (59) copies of the questionnaires were returned, which indicated (84.29%). However, eleven (11) copies of the questionnaires were not returned and represent (15.71%). More so, the number of respondents in terms of gender ratio are; males were found to be forty (40) and females nineteen (19), which both represent (67.80% and 32.20%) respectively.
The data collected were analyzed to answer the research questions. Descriptive statistics of frequency were employed.
5.3. Conclusions
The findings of this study form the basis for drawing the following conclusions. The government, private bodies and tertiary institution administrators need to do more in providing enough financial aids in tertiary institutions to encourage, motivate and assist students' in their academic life. The fact that financial aids does not correlate or predict academic performance is not an excuse for financial aids bodies not to provide any or substantial amount of money aids that would cover the students' academic expenses and social needs which are greater factor in affecting or negating students academic progress/performance.
Education is perceived as a tool for socio-economic and political development, and an instrument for change. This position is amplified in the Nigerian National Policy on Education, that education is an instrument par excellence for affecting national development (FGN, 2004).
5.4. Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are mode;
Educational institutions i.e. tertiary institutions need not relent in their effort to provide sufficient/enough financial aids across the entire departments of the school, to enable easy access and availability of funds to all students. Not necessarily based on merits/ G.P.A.
There should be a close cooperation between the tertiary institutions administrators and the Student Union Government (SUG). This will create an enabling environment that would allow for the institution directly understanding and knowing of students needs in school for necessary financial provision.
Governments (Federal, State and Local), private bodies (Shell, Texaco, Mobil e.t.c.), philanthropist e.t.c. need to give a helping hand in providing adequate and substantial amounts of financial aids to students annually to motivate and sustain students' academic progress. This thus, will have positive impacts to our socio-economic developments.
The following suggestions are made for further research on students' academic performance in tertiary institutions;
A study should be conducted on the impacts of expensive education on students' academic performance.
A study should be conducted on the comparative analysis of private and public education on students' academic performance.
A study should be conducted on the impacts of age on students' academic performance.
A study/ survey should be conducted on the effects of gender on academic performance of students'.
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APPENDIX A:
Adamawa State Polytechnic,
College of Science & Technology,
Education Unit,
22nd August, 2011
Dear Respondent,
Request To Respond To Questionnaire Items
I am a student of the Professional Diploma in Education (PDE), undertaking a research on the topic 'Assessment of the impact of financial aids on students' academic performance (A case study of FUTY)'. I would appreciate if you kindly respond to the questions asked in the questionnaire. All your responses will be treated with the highest degree of confidentiality and will be used for academic purposes only.
Please do indicate your choice by ticking ( ) the option which best describes your opinion on the test items.
Thank you very much.
Yours sincerely
Ayanlola Abduljelil Taiwo
STUDENTS QUESTIONNAIRE
PART A: RESPONDENTS PERSONAL DATA
FACULTY: ……………………………………………………….
DEPARTMENT:…………………………………………………..
COURSE:………………………………………………………….
LEVEL:……………………………………………………………
SEX: MALE ( ) FEMALE ( )
KEY
SA- STRONGLY AGREE
A- AGREE
SD- STRONGLY DISAGREE
DA- DISAGREE
UD- UNDECIDED
PART B: THE QUESTIONNAIRE
SECTION A: FINANCIAL AIDS AVAILABLE IN THE INSTITUTIONS
S/N
TEST ITEMS
SA
A
SD
DA
UD
1
ARE FINANCIAL AIDS AVAILABLE IN YOUR INSTITUTIONS
2
IS EVERY STUDENTS UNDER FINANCIAL AID IN YOUR INSTITUTIONS
3
ARE YOU UNDER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL AID
4
ARE YOU UNDER THE STATE GOVERNMENT (INDIGENOUS) FINANCIAL AID
5
ARE YOU UNDER THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL AID
6
ARE YOU UNDER A PRIVATE BODY (SHELL, TEXACO, MOBIL, L.N.G. e.t.c.) FINANCIAL AID
7
ARE YOU UNDER MULTIPLE FINANCIAL AIDS
SECTION B: CORRELATION BETWEEN FINANCIAL AIDS AND
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
S/N
TEST ITEMS
SA
A
SD
DA
UD
8
DO STUDENTS UNDER FINANCIAL AID PERFORM BETTER ACADEMICALLY
9
DOES FINANCIAL AIDS MOTIVATES STUDENTS ACADEMICALLY
10
DOES STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE DEPENDS LARGELY ON FINANCIAL AIDS
11
DOES STUDENTS WITHOUT FINANCIAL AIDS UNDER PERFORMS ACADEMICALLY
12
STUDENTS UNDER FINANCIAL AIDS ARE ALWAYS THE BEST BRAIN IN CLASS
13
STUDENTS WITHIN THE GRADE POINT 3.5 AND ABOVE, ARE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF FINANCIAL AIDS
14
STUDENTS WITHOUT FINANCIAL AIDS PERFORMS BELOW ACADEMIC STANDARD
SECTION C: FINANCIAL AIDS PREDICT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
S/N
TEST ITEMS
SA
A
SD
DA
UD
15
STUDENTS WHO SHOW EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE IN CONTINOUS ASSESSMENT, ASSIGNMENT e.t.c. ARE UNDER FINANCIAL AIDS
16
STUDENTS WHO SHOW DISTINCT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE ARE UNDER FINANCIAL AIDS
17
ALL ACADEMICALLY SOUND STUDENTS ARE UNDER FINANCIAL AIDS
18
STUDENTS UNDER FINANCIAL AIDS ALL GRADUATES WITH THE BEST CLASS OF DEGREES
19
THE BEST OVERALL STUDENTS OF THE INSTITUTIONS ARE MOSTLY UNDER FINANCIAL AIDS
SECTION D: PROVISION/AVAILABILITY OF FINANCIAL AIDS
PREDICT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
S/N
TEST ITEMS
SA
A
SD
DA
UD
20
ARE STUDENTS PROVIDED WITH FINANCIAL AIDS YEARLY
21
DOES AVAILABILITY OF FINANCIAL AIDS TO STUDENTS PREVENT FAILURES
22
DOES PROVISION OF FINANCIAL AIDS TO STUDENTS ENSURES SUCCESS
23
DOES STUDENTS WHO ARE NOT UNDER THE FINANCIAL AIDS PERFORMS BETTER ACADEMICALLY
24
DOES STUDENTS UNDER FINANCIAL AID WHO HAVE THEIR SOCIAL NEEDS (TEXT BOOKS, CLOTHING, GOOD HOUSING, FEEDING) SECURED PERFORM BEST ACADEMICALLY
25
DOES STUDENTS WITHOUT FINANCIAL AID WHO HAVE THEIR SOCIAL NEEDS INSECURED PERFORM BEST ACADEMICALLY
26
DOES STUDENTS PROVIDED WITH FINANCIAL AIDS FIND ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES EASY
27
DOES STUDENTS PROVIDED WITH FINANCIAL AIDS PERFORM ABOVE ACADEMIC STANDARD
