Financing college is increasingly difficult for many college students and it can be especially difficult for low-income students. Using data from the Gates Millennium Scholarship Program, this study provides a portrait of the 1st and 3rd year experiences of a sample of both high achieving Hispanic scholarship recipients and non-recipients. Applying Nora, Barlow, and Crisp's Student/Institution Engagement Theoretical Model (2005), we show how freedom from the stressors of paying for college enables students to become more engaged in academics and campus leadership activities even as we control for equally high levels of ability and involvement prior to college entry.
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