Study Whites More Likely to Gain Grants and Scholarships | The Defenders Online | A Civil Rights Blog

Study Whites More Likely to Gain Grants and Scholarships | The Defenders Online | A Civil Rights Blog:

Study Whites More Likely to Gain Grants and Scholarships

Posted By The Editors | September 17th, 2011 | Category: Education, New Articles | No Comments » Print This Post

By The Editors

A newly-published study states that, contrary to the conventional belief, students of color, and especially black students, are not favored more than whites in gaining grants and scholarships.

The truth is just the opposite: white students to a significantly disproportionate degree are the beneficiaries of these instruments of financial aid.

“The reality,” according to the report, “The Distribution of Grants and Scholarships by Race,” “is that minority students are less likely to win private scholarships or receive merit-based institutional grants than Caucasian students. … Caucasian students are 40% more likely to win private scholarships” than African-, Latino-, and Asian-American students.

The average amount –about $2,500 to $3,000 – students get from these scholarships and grants may seem small compared to students’ total annual cost of matriculation. But in fact, such funds are often a critical supplement to the financial aid “package” most students and their families must cobble together to meet the costs of a college education.

The report was published earlier this month by Mark Kantrowitz, a prominent expert on