We estimate the effect of an unexpected institutional financial aid (IFA) award on student outcomes using administrative data collected from nine universities, exploiting variation in IFA schedules within and across university-entry cohorts. Each £1,000 of IFA during the first year of college increases the chances of completing that year by 1.4 percentage points, improves test scores by 0.059 standard deviations, and increases the chances of graduating with a good degree by 3.4 percentage points. We find that high-ability and low-income students benefit the most and calculate outcome-maximizing and cost-minimizing IFA schedules for each university.

This paper examines inequalities in the match between student and degree quality using linked administrative data from schools, universities, and tax authorities. We analyze two measures of match at the university subject level: undergraduate enrollment qualifications and graduate earnings. We find for both that disadvantaged students match to lower-quality degrees across the entire distribution of achievement in a setting with uniform fees and a generous financial aid system. While there are negligible gender gaps in academic match, high-attaining women systematically undermatch in terms of expected earnings, driven by subject choice. These inequalities in match are largest among the most undermatched.