The role of information in the application for highly selective scholarships: Evidence from a randomized field experiment

This paper analyzes whether information asymmetries prevent students from a non-academic background, i.e., students who are the first in their families to study, from applying for highly selective scholarships. I randomly assigned German higher education students to receive either general information on these scholarships or additionally personalized information on details of the application process conveyed by a similar role model. The combination of the general information with the role model interview significantly increased application probabilities for scholarships of students from non-academic families. Providing general information on the scholarship system only triggered students' own information search for alternative funding sources and increased application rates for other not federally funded scholarships.