Suchergebnisse

In the 20 years since "obsolete" infrastructure was discovered as a public policy problem by the academic and policy communities (see Peterson, 1978), federal and state infrastructure programs have been proposed, debated, and, in many cases, implemented—but frequently they have not. Yet, as much as policy makers would like to learn from these programs or be informed by theories about grant designs, the literature and evaluations on these infrastructure programs do not speak with one voice; conflicting conclusions and policy recommendations abound. The purpose of this article is to sketch out some elements of an infrastructure grants research agenda that are in need of clarification, specification, and rethinking. In particular, this article examines reasons for infrastructure's relative invisibility in municipal budgeting, the design and intended effects of infrastructure grants policy by federal and state governments, and future issues surrounding infrastructure.

AbstractWe conduct the first long‐term experimental evaluation of a need‐based financial aid program, the privately funded Wisconsin Scholars Grant. Over multiple cohorts, the program failed to increase degree completion and graduate school enrollment up to 10 years after matriculation. The program did reduce time‐to‐degree for some students and modestly increased the number of STEM degrees earned. The lack of robust effects raises important questions about the conditions necessary for financial aid to benefit students.