A Quasi-Experimental Investigation of How the Gates Millennium Scholars Program Is Related to College Students' Time Use and Activities

A national scholarship program provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is designed to improve access to and success in higher education for low-income high-achieving minority students by providing them with full tuition scholarships and non-monetary support. We use a regression discontinuity approach to investigate whether the receipt of the scholarship changes the use of time and participation in different activities among college students during their freshmen and junior years. We find that receiving a Gates scholarship reduces hours worked per week, as well as influencing high participation in volunteering activities and cultural events. The sub-group analyses reveal racial/ethnic differences in the allocation of time to and the levels of participation in various activities in response to the Gates scholarship.