Impact of Scholarships on Student Success: A Case Study of the University of Turbat, Pakistan

Abstract

This study uses data of a public sector university to investigate the impact of government financial aid on students' success outcomes. The estimates of the differencein- differences (DID) model show that there is a positive and significant relationship between need-based scholarship (NBS) and students' success outcomes while for meritbased scholarship (MBS), the relationship is insignificant. Empirical results reveal that the NBS seemingly increases the academic performance of male students by about 4 percent in subsequent semesters after the award. The t-tests further reveal that a male student when obtains a scholarship is less likely to depend on his parental income for university-related expenses and more likely to focus on his study by taking class notes seriously. This positive and significant difference between NBS holders and non-holders also exists for male students on every measure of success outcomes (e.g. students' retention, engagement, acquisition of skills and competences, and career success). The NBS (i.e. HEC Ehsaas) is designed properly and contributes to reaching out to the targeted students in Balochistan or even in the country, therefore, the findings of this study suggest the government of Pakistan for its continuation while using a more self-sustained financial model just like the BEEF programme in Balochistan and the PEEF programme in Punjab.