Examining neoliberal shifts in postsecondary financial aid policies

What is it about?

This paper examines the shift in national discourse on federal aid for postsecondary education during the 1970s. We analyzed key testimonies from six experts during a 1978 hearing on the Middle Income Student Assistance Act (MISAA) using the discourse analysis method and critical race theory. Our findings illustrate how testifiers strategically utilized language to shift the focus of financial aid from need-based to merit-based. During the hearing, financial aid was often framed as “a mechanism for equality” and being available to “all students as a public good for society” while race was omitted from the arguments, which steered the focus of policy from low-income and Black families to middle-income and White families.

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Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash

Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Some argue that colleges and universities are free from ideological preferences. However, this study clearly shows that particular sociopolitical beliefs such as neoliberalism shape policies and practices of postsecondary education. The race-neutral ideology and language employed by the testifiers for MISAA removed race from the discourse, promoting financial aid policies that limited progress toward equity and multiculturalism in postsecondary education.