Perception of Educationists on the Impact of Fully Funded Scholarships on Youths

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

 Background of the Study

One strategy that a number of countries, including those that were formerly part of the Soviet Union (such as Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Russia), as well as governments in other parts of the world (such as Brazil, China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia), have implemented in order to develop their human capital is to provide financial assistance to students from the home country so that they can attend postsecondary institutions in other countries (Knight, 2016). According to Ace- moglu and Robinson (2016), the level of educational attainment of a population is a key measure of the total amount of human capital acquired by a country, making it one of the most important factors in determining a country’s level of prosperity and economic competitiveness on the international stage. According to the World Economic Forum, higher education is critical to the competitiveness of a nation because “today’s globalizing economy requires countries to nurture pools of well-educated workers who are able to perform complex tasks and adapt rapidly to their changing environment and the evolving needs of the production system.” This statement highlights the significance of education beyond the high school level for national competitiveness (Schwab, 2015).

Significantly, the governments of the nations that support international scholarship programmes assume that the benefits of acquiring a higher education from a school in a country other than one’s own are distinct from the benefits of studying at a school in one’s own country (Messer & Wolter, 2017). This technique may be able to broaden the worldwide perspectives of the home nation’s people by utilizing the long-standing and high-quality educational programmes available in other nations (Knight, 2016). It may also encourage the transfer of information and the development of skills that companies demand. Around 3.5 million persons, or 2% of all students enrolled in higher education globally, studied in another nation in 2010. (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2015). Even if the proportion is small, the potential advantages of studying abroad to individual and societal prosperity may be substantial, especially in a nation experiencing economic and political instability.

Although, student educational financial aid typically focuses on three types of financial aid (grants, loans, and work study) from two sources (federal government and state government). With some recent exceptions, relatively little is known about the impact of fully funded scholarships from colleges and universities on recipient who are youth. In 2005–2006, 18% of all aid to post-secondary education students was from colleges and universities; an additional 7% was in the form of private and employer grants (The College Board, 2006). One electronic provider of information about local, national, and college scholarships (Fastweb, 2017) claims a database of “1.3 million scholarships worth over $3 billion. The relative absence of attention in the financial aid literature to local, national, and college scholarships is surprising, given the prevalence of this source of aid.

Statement of the Problem

The academic success of students is commonly measured by the student’s persistence (i.e., continued enrollment in the institution), progression (i.e., successful accrual of credit hours), and timely graduation ((Knight, 2016). Many studies show that the availability of financial aid and scholarship grants to college students facilitate student success. These consist of both need-based and merit-based assistance that may come in the form of grants, loans, free tuition, thesis grants, and scholarships. According to Robins et al (2004), financial aid and scholarships could directly affect students’ academic motivation. The student could be directly motivated to persist and perform well, knowing that good academic performance is required to maintain his/her scholarship. Grants and scholarships had more pronounced effects on persistence and graduation compared to loans. Twombly & colleagues (2015) reached the conclusion in their comprehensive review that the positive effects found in research examining U.S. students who study abroad may be overstated. This may be the case due to the reliance on data from single institutions and small and non-representative samples, insufficient theoretical grounding, and inattention to the self-selection of students into study abroad programmes or the growth and development that would occur among college students regardless of their choice to participate in study abroad programmes. Despite literature on the significance of funded scholarships, little attention has been given to educationist perspective on on the impact of fully funded scholarships on youths.

Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is to examine the Perception of Educationists on the impact of fully funded scholarships on youths.Specific objectives of this study are:

i.          To determine the extent Nigerian youths access fully funded scholarship.

ii.        To find out the benefits of fully funded scholarship on educational acquisition to the Nigerian youths.

iii.      To find out the impacts of fully funded scholarship on educational acquisition of the Nigerian youths to the country.

iv.      To find out the perception of Educationists on the impact of fully funded scholarships on youths.

   Research Questions

The following research questions will be answered in this study:

i.          To what extent do Nigerian youths access fully funded scholarship?

ii.        What are the benefits of fully funded scholarship on educational acquisition to the Nigerian youths?

iii.      What are the impacts of fully funded scholarship on educational acquisition of the Nigerian youths to the country?

iv.      What is perception of Educationists on the impact of fully funded scholarships on youths.?

Significance of the Study

This study will be of great benefit to the Nigerian society as the findings of this study will reveal the benefits of fully funded scholarship to the youths and the impact it has on the Nigerian society.

This study will also influence the policy makers and educationists decisions on the need to improve the different scholarship schemes across the nation and to make it easily accessible to the teeming youths.

 Scope of the Study

This study focuses on the benefits of fully funded scholarship on educational acquisition of youths. Specifically, this study is focused on determining the extent Nigerian youths access fully funded scholarship, finding out the benefits of fully funded scholarship on educational acquisition to the Nigerian youths, finding out the impacts of fully funded scholarship on educational acquisition of the Nigerian youths to the country and finding out the perception of Educationists on the impact of fully funded scholarships on youths. Selected youths in Lagos State will serve as the respondents for the survey of this study.

Limitations of the Study

During the process of carrying out this study, the researcher was confronted with a number of obstacles, some of which were limitations pertaining to time and finances, as well as difficulties pertaining to language and the attitudes of the respondents. Nevertheless, the researchers were able to overcome these obstacles in order to guarantee the success of this investigation.

In addition, the case study approach that was used in the research presented the investigator with a number of difficulties, such as the chance of making erroneous judgments and being subject to prejudice. In spite of this, the investigator was successful in overcoming the difficulties by adhering to the broad principles of respect for processes, justice, fairness, impartiality in observation and recording, and the weighing of evidence.

Definition of Terms

Fully Funded Scholarship: A fully funded scholarship covers all expenses that your college life entitles you to and the funds may not be utilized otherwise. The scholarships are typically offered by colleges and universities or private organizations with generous benefactors.

Education: Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty.