The Influence of Financial Aid Systems on Student Academic Development in Higher Education in China
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The Influence of financial aid system on student academic development in China Sustainability Education
Dear authors,
It is my pleasure to assess your essay. Below, please find my comments and recommendations:
Abstract
- Authors mentioned several theories, and none of them are reflected in the abstract. Which one (s) is (are) the leading theory (ies) that support this paper? It is essential to include it (them) in the abstract.
- It is essential to mention the scale (s) used to measure the results
Introduction
- In line 28, the authors say: “As one of the biggest higher sustainability education providers in the world, the Chinese government has been improving the financial support system for university students and is continually increasing its financial support.”
Can the authors provide information regarding the student financial systems around the world?
- Numbers must be fixed in the entire paper; for example, lines 51 and 52: 124.379; it should be 124,379.
- Line 54 mentioned the human capital theory; is this a theory that supports this paper?
- In line 64, college student financial AID is defined. Can you cite the source?
- In line 72: Can the authors explain higher sustainability education? Who did coin the concept?
- In line 95: What is the difference between traditional higher education institutions and sustainable ones?
- In lines 123-130: numbers should be fixed.
- Lines 131-133: The authors should introduce the following sections and some new results at the end of the introduction.
General comments on the introduction:
- Although this research is focused on China, readers should have some information about this topic from other perspectives.
Literature review
- In line 136, the theory of academic development is mentioned; can you cite the source? Is this theory essential in this paper? Why?
General comments on the Literature Review
- It would be interesting to integrate the literature review with the theoretical framework to support the hypotheses.
Theoretical framework and hypothesis
- It is mandatory to support each hypothesis with at least 150 words.
General comments on the Theoretical framework and hypothesis:
- I could not find literature that supports the different theories that this paper mentions. It is necessary authors clarify this point.
- At least one theory should support the research.
- A research model should be included to have certainty when reviewing the results.
Materials and methods
- What scales did the authors use for this survey? If they designed a scale, can the authors present the reliability analysis?
- Did the questionnaire integrate different theories mentioned in the literature review?
- The questionnaire should be included in the appendix
- I have the following questions,
o how was the questionnaire distributed?
o What platform did the authors use to collect the information?
o How was the sample structured?
o Did the authors conduct a pilot to assure variables on the questionnaire were understood by participants?
- The authors must exhibit a table with the demographics.
o How was age structured?
o What demographic questions were included in the questionnaire?
General comments on the methodology:
- This section should be improved. If the methodology is not well structured, the whole project can be affected, especially the results.
- The authors MUST work intensively responding to the questions and improving the understanding of this section.
Results
- A table that exhibits the results and hypotheses test it is mandatory.
- Tables 2 and 3 are confusing, and I cannot follow the explanations based on the tables
Limitations and future research directions
- Can the sample be another limitation?
- Are those colleges and students enough to generalize these results?
Finally, I wish you the best in this peer-review process,
Regards,
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you very much for your valuable comments on the revision and improvement of my work, we have revised the content of the article carefully according to the requirements, the specific content of the revised has been marked in the text with the revised mode, the main changes are as follows.
[Abstract]
Point 1: Authors mentioned several theories, and none of them are reflected in the abstract. Which one (s) is (are) the leading theory (ies) that support this paper? It is essential to include it (them) in the abstract.
Response 1: The relevant theories supporting this paper have been added in the abstract section. This paper uses Logistic regression based on human capital theory and student development theory to investigate the effects of different forms of financial aid on students' academic development.
The abstract is modified as follows.
The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the multiple mixed financial aid system and the academic development of college students in Chinese higher education. This study used sample data from a questionnaire survey conducted by the National Student Financial Aid Center of China among students in 11 colleges and universities, and used logistic regression analysis based on human capital theory and student development theory to investigate the effects of different forms of financial aid on students' academic development. The main results of the study showed that, firstly, receiving National Scholarships, National Encouragement Scholarships and National Student Loans were significantly and positively correlated with receiving excellent grades, but receiving National Grants and Work-study positions were significantly and negatively correlated with receiving excellent grades. Secondly, receiving higher National Scholarships and Work-study positions funding significantly increased students' probability of receiving excellent grades, but receiving higher National Student Loans funding significantly decreased students' probability of receiving excellent grades. Further analysis of the sustainable influence of different forms of financial support on students' academic development reveals that receiving National Scholarships and National Encouragement Scholarships can significantly increase the probability of study exchanges between sponsored students and teachers and classmates and attending study seminars, and receiving higher National Scholarships and Work-study positions can help sponsored students clarify their study goals and increase study exchanges with teachers and classmates. The results of this study show that the students' academic development is sustainably influenced by the National Scholarships and Work-study positions. Based on the results of the empirical study, this study proposes countermeasures and suggestions in terms of precise financial aid system, allocation of financial aid resources, and Work-study positions, so as to improve the sustainable impact of higher education mixed financial aid system on college students' academic development in China.
Point 2: It is essential to mention the scale (s) used to measure the results
Response 2: Questionnaire has been added.
[Introduction]
Point 1: In line 28, the authors say: “As one of the biggest higher sustainability education providers in the world, the Chinese government has been improving the financial support system for university students and is continually increasing its financial support.”
Can the authors provide information regarding the student financial systems around the world?
Response 1: “The biggest provider” is put forward mainly from the perspective of the number of students who received government grants. Furthermore, China and the United States are the two largest economies in the world, and the United States is the world's higher education powerhouse, which has formed a complete financial support system for college students. However, the total funding for higher education in China has been increasing year by year in recent years, with an average growth rate of 18.3% over the past seven years. The growth rate tends to weaken as the economic growth rate changes, but it is still higher than the growth rate of GDP and total funding for higher education. In contrast, U.S. higher education funding has generally shown a decreasing trend, with an average growth rate of -0.86% over the past seven years, which is lower than the growth rate of both GDP and total higher education funding [1].
[1] Qu, S. , Smanova, N. A comparative study on the level of financial support for college students in China and the United States. Higher Education Exploration 2020, (09),87-93.
Point 2: Numbers must be fixed in the entire paper; for example, lines 51 and 52: 124.379; it should be 124,379.
Response 2: Numbers in the article has been all checked and fixed.
Point 3: Line 54 mentioned the human capital theory; is this a theory that supports this paper?
Response 3: There is a problem with the translation, the original text is "From the viewpoint of the main body of investment in college student financial aid, college student financial aid is a kind of educational investment of national education expenditure, which is the educational investment of human capital theory", now change it to "From the viewpoint of the main body of investment in college student financial aid, college student financial aid is a kind of educational investment of national education expenditure, which is the educational investment of human capital".
Point 4: In line 64, college student financial AID is defined. Can you cite the source?
Response 4: Peng, A. Financial Aid to Ph. D Candidates in China — An Empirical Study Based on the Survey of Ph. D Students in 12 Universities. PhD, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China, July 2009.
Point 5: In line 72: Can the authors explain higher sustainability education? Who did coin the concept?
Response 5: The concept of higher sustainability education was first defined by the United Nations. In December 2002, the United Nations announced “the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development” for the period 2005-2014 to emphasize the importance of education for a more sustainable world [1]. The overarching goal is to "integrate the principles, values and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning" and to "create a more sustainable future in terms of environmental integrity, economic vitality and a just society for present and future generations. The goals of sustainable development will have a major impact on strategies and actions in many areas of the world, and the field of higher education is no exception. The mission of high-level academic research and the responsibility to serve the long-term development of society require that colleges and universities actively guide their own teaching and research efforts with a sustainable development orientation. Higher education is the "tip" of the pyramid of the national education system and an important core of a country's socio-economic development. It should take the lead in exploring the direction of human progress and provide the world with a knowledge base and value leadership.
[1] UNESO. The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Available online: https://en.unesco.org/themes/education-sustainable-development/what-is-esd/un-decade-of-esd (accessed on 10 December 2002)
Point 6: In line 95: What is the difference between traditional higher education institutions and sustainable ones?
Response 6: Sustainable ones tend to hold the goals of sustainable development in students and emphasize the importance of sustainable values into all aspects of teaching and learning. In this paper, the 11 colleges and universities surveyed by the National Student Financial Aid Center of China are belong to the sustainable ones according to their philosophy of schooling.
Point 7: It would be interesting to integrate the literature review with the theoretical framework to support the hypotheses.
Response 7: The hypotheses have been revised in the [Theoretical framework and hypothesis] section according to advices.
Point 8: Lines 131-133: The authors should introduce the following sections and some new results at the end of the introduction.
Response 8: At the end of the introduction, a description of the study as a whole has been added. Moreover, the structure of the article and the subsequent chapters are presented. The additions are as follows.
In this paper, we analyze the impact of financial aid for college students in China on the academic development of the recipients using data from a questionnaire survey conducted by the National Student Financial Aid Center of China among students in 11 colleges and universities, focusing on the group of college students who received financial aid. The paper analyzes not only the impact of different types of financial aid (scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study grants) on students' academic development, but also the impact of the degree of different types of financial aid. The results of the study showed that National Scholarships, National Encouragement Scholarships and National Student Loans had a positive effect on academic performance, but National Grants and Work-study positions had a significant inhibitory effect on academic performance. To better understand the mechanisms by which financial aid may affect students' academic development, we also analyzed the relationships between different types of financial aid and learning goals, learning exchanges, and participation in lectures. The study found that National Scholarships and National Encouragement Scholarships had a positive impact on increasing learning exchanges between sponsored students and teachers and peers, and on participation in learning lectures.
The structure of the paper is as follows. In the next section, we provide an overview of some existing studies in China and Europe and the US. The third section outlines the theoretical framework and research hypotheses of the paper. The fourth section presents the data, sample, variables, and methods. The fifth section presents the study results. In the sixth section, the main research findings results are summarized and relevant countermeasures are suggested in the seventh section.
[Literature review]
Point 1: In line 136, the theory of academic development is mentioned; can you cite the source? Is this theory essential in this paper? Why?
Response 1: Academic development theory is a theory mentioned by Yang Xi in "A Review of Methods for Assessing the Effectiveness of Student Financial Aid on Academic Development"; Yang Xi did not point out the source of the theory. The authors reviewed the relevant literature and did not find the relevant theory. Academic development theory is not the theoretical basis of this thesis; human capital theory and student development theory are the theoretical basis of this paper. In order to avoid confusion, authors have deleted "academic development theory" from the literature review.
Point 2: It would be interesting to integrate the literature review with the theoretical framework to support the hypotheses.
Response 2: The hypotheses have been revised in the [Theoretical framework and hypothesis] section according to advices.
[Theoretical framework and hypothesis]
Point 1: It is mandatory to support each hypothesis with at least 150 words.
Response 1: A more detailed description of each research hypothesis of this paper has been added to the article.
Hypothesis 1: Gift-based financial aid.
National Grants are used to support students from economically disadvantaged families in general undergraduate programs, which may reduce the number of part-time work hours that these students have during their college studies, and too many work hours during college are not conducive to academic development [39], so the grants may improve the academic performance of the recipient students. However, state grants in Chinese universities are generally higher than general scholarships in schools, which weakens students' motivation to obtain this financial aid by improving their academic performance, especially since the study group in this paper is all university students who receive financial aid, so we hypothesize that state grants have no significant positive effect on students' academic performance in the financial aid system.
Hypothesis 2: Incentive-based financial aid.
the National Scholarships is open to all general undergraduate students, and the National Encouragement Scholarships is open to students with positive family financial difficulties, but both are for outstanding students with good character and high financial aid standards. Students who receive scholarship funding will feel that the state attaches positive importance to them, especially academic performance is one of the important criteria for selecting scholarships, and the recipient students may devote more time to their studies and regularly participate in activities such as study exchanges and study lectures among teachers and classmates, and college student development theory believes that college students can achieve continuous development of academic performance in this way so that in the following academic year continue to receive scholarship funding. Therefore, we hypothesize that National Scholarships and National Encouragement Scholarships can significantly contribute to the academic development of the recipient students.
Hypothesis 3: Repayment financial aid.
National Student Loans are an important part of China's student financial aid system, which can effectively alleviate the financial pressure of students from economically disadvantaged families, reduce the working hours of these students during their college years, and thus improve their academic performance. However, later studies have shown that there is a debt tolerance level for the level of state student loan support, below which student loans positively affect students' academic development, and beyond which students' debt tolerance level increases students' psychological pressure to repay loans and may increase the working hours of students during college, leading to a negative impact on students' academic development. Therefore, we hypothesize that there may be an inverted U-shaped relationship between state National Student Loans and students' academic development.
32.Triventi, M. Does working during higher education affect students’ academic progression? Economics of Education Review 2014, 41, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2014.03.006
Point 2: I could not find literature that supports the different theories that this paper mentions. It is necessary authors clarify this point.
Response 2: In the 1960s and 1970s, human capital theory, pioneered by Theodore W. Schultz, Gary Becker and others, was built around the investment and return of human capital.
- Schultz, T. W. Investment in Human Capital. The American Economic Review, 1961. 51(1), (March): 1-17.
Point 3: At least one theory should support the research.
Response 3: Financial aid is an "economic investment" based on the return of human capital development such as knowledge, experience, skills, cognition and ability of students with financial difficulties. Human capital elements have become an important basis for the selection of academic development indicators for sponsored college students. The core elements of human capital such as knowledge, experience, and skills of college students are mainly measured by academic achievement indicators, which provides a theoretical basis for evaluating the impact of financial aid on human capital of college students.
Point 4: A research model should be included to have certainty when reviewing the results.
Response 4:
Student development theory provides an important theoretical basis for analyzing the effect of financial aid in the academic development of sponsored college students. The theory can understand academic development as the interaction between college students and the academic elements of the institution, in which the effect of financial aid on the academic development of sponsored students is further refined into students' academic motivation and academic integration, which are mainly measured by indica-tors such as learning goals, academic exchanges and academic conferences in this paper.
[Materials and methods]
Point 1: What scales did the authors use for this survey? If they designed a scale, can the authors present the reliability analysis?
Response 1: The questionnaire conducted in this paper did not use a scale instrument, so the questionnaire was not tested for reliability. The thesis was validated by correlation analysis using variables.
Point 2: Did the questionnaire integrate different theories mentioned in the literature review?
Response 2: The questionnaire investigated the financial aid input in detail in terms of the type of financial aid received and the degree of financial aid input based on human capital theory and student development theory, and the academic achievement as a characterization of the human capital development of the recipient college students. Based on student development theory, the questions of academic goals and school involvement of the recipient students during their school years were investigated.
Point 3: The questionnaire should be included in the appendix.
Response 3: The questionnaire has been added in the appendix.
Point 4: How was the questionnaire distributed?
Response 4: The authors commissioned the student financial aid management centers of 11 universities, including Northeast Normal University, Zhejiang University, China University of Mining and Technology, Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, South China Agricultural University, South China Normal University, Hunan University of Technology, Hunan College of Arts and Science, Lanzhou University, Southwest University and Chang 'an University, through the National Student Financial Aid Center of China, stipulating that the sample size of each university should not be less than 500 samples, and distributed paper questionnaires to college students who received financial aid in all disciplines of the university.
Point 5: What platform did the authors use to collect the information?
Response 5: The authors were commissioned through the National Student Financial Assistance Center of China, and the student financial assistance management center of each university included and summarized our questionnaire, entered into an EXCEL sheet, and finally fed back to the authors.
Point 6: How was the sample structured?
Response 6: The sample is mainly divided into economic regions and university levels in China, firstly, according to the criteria of economic regions in China, they are divided into eastern, central and western regions; then, they are divided into different groups according to university levels, namely, "985" universities, "211" universities and general universities. The questionnaire survey is based on whole group sampling. Based on the whole-group sampling, we select the right amount of colleges and universities from each level and stratify the sample colleges and universities by grade and major.
Another important reference for selecting college samples is the performance evaluation ranking of college students' financial aid work management by the National Center for Financial Aid Management, and the top ranking and representative colleges and universities are selected, such as Northeast Normal University and Zhejiang University.
Point 7: Did the authors conduct a pilot to assure variables on the questionnaire were understood by participants?
Response 7: Before conducting the formal questionnaire, the authors invited a total of 12 students from University of Science and Technology Beijing and University of Political Science and Law of China who received national scholarships, national student loans, and work-study positions to take a pilot test, and adjusted the questionnaire. For example, the original questionnaire was to assess students' grades by GPA, but students reported that this data needed to be submitted to the university to obtain, and it was difficult to accurately remember the previous year's academic performance, so the questionnaire was designed as a subjective question.
Point 8: The authors must exhibit a table with the demographics.
Response 8:
|
|
Options |
Sample of sponsored college students |
|
|
Size of sample |
Proportion(%) |
||
|
Level of university |
General colleges and universities |
489 |
12.7 |
|
211 colleges and universities |
3350 |
87.3 |
|
|
Type of specialization |
Humanities and Social Sciences |
1519 |
39.6 |
|
Science, Engineering, Agriculture and Medicine |
2320 |
60.4 |
|
|
Gender |
Male |
1789 |
46.6 |
|
Female |
2050 |
53.4 |
|
|
Political Appearance |
Non-Communist Party Members |
3467 |
90.3 |
|
Communist Party Members |
364 |
9.5 |
|
Point 9: How was age structured?
Response 3: The average age of the aided student sample was 18.7 years.
Point 10: What demographic questions were included in the questionnaire?
Response 10: Demographic questions include questions on institutional level, type of major, gender, age, and political affiliation.
Point 11: This section should be improved. If the methodology is not well structured, the whole project can be affected, especially the results. The authors MUST work intensively responding to the questions and improving the understanding of this section.
Response 11: This section has been intensively revised, and we added necessary tables in the manuscript to improve the understanding.
[Result]
Point 1: A table that exhibits the results and hypotheses test it is mandatory.
Response 1: Tables of analysis results and hypothesis validation have been added.
Table 5. Results of the model on the multiple mixed financial aid system on the academic development of college students
|
Multiple Aid |
Direct Impact |
Indirect Impact |
||||||
|
Progress in achievement |
Class ranking |
Learning rewards |
Learning objectives |
Learning exchange |
Lectures, etc. |
|||
|
Constant term |
1.43 |
- |
-3.90** |
- |
- |
- |
||
|
X1 |
X11 |
-0.08* |
-0.07* |
-0.02 |
0.01 |
-0.03 |
-0.10** |
|
|
X2 |
X21 |
0.17 |
0.98** |
1.15** |
0.15 |
0.25* |
0.24* |
|
|
X22 |
0.21* |
1.52** |
2.16** |
0.14 |
0.44** |
0.36** |
||
|
X23 |
0.10 |
-0.20* |
-0.07 |
-0.12 |
0.07 |
0.02 |
||
|
X24 |
0.46 |
0.61** |
0.51* |
-0.17 |
-0.05 |
0.07 |
||
|
X25 |
-0.16 |
-0.20** |
-0.004 |
-0.10 |
-0.005 |
0.06 |
||
|
X3 |
X31 |
100% |
-0.05 |
0.22 |
-0.37 |
0.49** |
0.42* |
-0.03 |
|
80-100% |
0.39* |
0.41** |
0.34* |
0.25* |
0.18 |
0.03 |
||
|
60-80% |
0.22* |
0.13 |
0.15 |
0.06 |
0.08 |
0.13 |
||
|
X32 |
100% |
-0.16 |
-0.72** |
-0.72** |
0.19 |
0.12 |
0.20 |
|
|
80-100% |
-0.28 |
-0.57** |
-0.34 |
0.13 |
0.15 |
0.30 |
||
|
60-80% |
-0.07 |
-0.51* |
-0.43 |
0.33 |
0.11 |
0.03 |
||
|
X33 |
100% |
0.26 |
0.29 |
0.48 |
-0.04 |
0.57* |
0.50 |
|
|
80-100% |
0.23 |
0.16 |
0.44 |
0.26 |
0.39* |
-0.02 |
||
|
60-80% |
0.37** |
0.19* |
0.20 |
0.48** |
0.34** |
0.10 |
||
|
z |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
||
|
Prob > chi2 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.000 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
||
|
Pseudo R2 |
0.02 |
0.07 |
0.166 |
0.02 |
0.02 |
0.01 |
||
Point 2: Tables 2 and 3 are confusing, and I cannot follow the explanations based on the tables.
Response 2: Relevant tables (Table 4 and Table 5)have been added to improve the understanding of this section.
Table 4. Analysis of the differences in academic development between aided and unaided students
|
Variable |
Levene’s Test for Variance Equations |
T-test of the Mean Equation |
||||||
|
F |
Sig. |
t |
Df |
Sig. (bilateral) |
Mean difference |
Standard error |
||
|
Progress in achievement |
Equality of variances |
600.28 |
0.00 |
-12.29 |
7447.00 |
0.00 |
-0.13 |
0.01 |
|
Disparity |
|
|
-12.24** |
7127.92 |
0.00 |
-0.13 |
0.01 |
|
|
Annual class ranking |
Equality of variances |
1.43 |
0.23 |
-7.64** |
7447.00 |
0.00 |
-0.23 |
0.03 |
|
Disparity |
|
|
-7.63 |
7402.26 |
0.00 |
-0.23 |
0.03 |
|
|
Learning rewards |
Equality of variances |
3.27 |
0.07 |
-8.72** |
7447.00 |
0.00 |
-0.21 |
0.02 |
|
Disparity |
|
|
-8.72 |
7412.73 |
0.00 |
-0.21 |
0.02 |
|
|
Learning objectives |
Equality of variances |
9.15 |
0.00 |
-11.31 |
7447.00 |
0.00 |
-0.18 |
0.02 |
|
Disparity |
|
|
-11.24** |
7032.05 |
0.00 |
-0.18 |
0.02 |
|
|
Learning exchange |
Equality of variances |
12.58 |
0.00 |
-7.13 |
7447.00 |
0.00 |
-0.12 |
0.02 |
|
Disparity |
|
|
-7.13** |
7409.25 |
0.00 |
-0.12 |
0.02 |
|
|
Lectures, etc. |
Equality of variances |
13.93 |
0.00 |
-14.03 |
7447.00 |
0.00 |
-0.24 |
0.02 |
|
Disparity |
|
|
-14.00** |
7331.90 |
0.00 |
-0.24 |
0.02 |
|
[Limitations and future research directions]
Point 1: Can the sample be another limitation?
Response 1: The sample will not be a limitation, and this paper took the following factors into consideration：China's economic development environment, types of universities, types of majors, and the performance of student financial aid management in universities.
Point 2: Are those colleges and students enough to generalize these results?
Response 2: The answer of this question refers to the answer of sample composition.
The sample is mainly divided into the economic regions of China and the levels of colleges and universities, firstly, according to the criteria of China's economic regions, they are divided into the eastern, central and western regions; then, they are divided into different groups according to the levels of colleges and universities, namely, "985" colleges and universities, "211" colleges and universities and general colleges and universities. The questionnaire survey is based on whole group sampling. Based on the whole-group sampling, we select the right amount of colleges and universities from each level and stratify the sample colleges and universities by grade and major.
Another important reference for selecting college samples is the performance evaluation ranking of college students' financial aid work management by the National Center for Financial Aid Management, and the top ranking and representative colleges and universities are selected, such as Northeast Normal University and Zhejiang University.
Best regards,
Shuyu Qi, Xiaohui Ji, Qiuton
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear authors
The work they present is interesting and correctly carried out both in terms of the research process itself and in the organization of the article itself.
In this regard, I offer you some recommendations:
-The abstract should follow the relevant structural elements (IMRaD), and not state absolute conclusions.
-Introduction to the topic contingent and updated. However, it would improve the identification of the objective in order to make it easier for readers to follow the investigative process sequentially.
-It would be advisable to segregate a section of Conclusions, differentiated from the Discussion, so that the reader can easily go through the research process.
Best regards
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thank you very much for your valuable comments on the revision and improvement of my work, we have revised the content of the article carefully according to the requirements, the specific content of the revised has been marked in the text with the revised mode, the main changes are as follows.
Point 1: The abstract should follow the relevant structural elements (IMRaD), and not state absolute conclusions.
Response 1: A description of this study has been added to the abstract section, describing in more detail the purpose, methodology, research process, and the relevant conclusions. A more complete presentation of the structure of this study is presented.
The abstract is modified as follows:
The main purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the multiple mixed financial aid system and the academic development of college students in Chinese higher education. This study uses sample data from a questionnaire survey conducted by the National Student Financial Aid Center of China among students in 11 colleges and universities, and uses logistic regression analysis based on human capital theory to investigate the effects of different forms of financial aid on students' academic development. The main results of the study showed that, firstly, receiving National Scholarships, National Encouragement Scholarships and National Student Loans were significantly and positively correlated with receiving excellent grades, but receiving National Grants and Work-study positions were significantly and negatively correlated with receiving excellent grades. Secondly, receiving higher National Scholarships and Work-study positions funding significantly increased students' probability of receiving excellent grades, but receiving higher National Student Loans funding significantly decreased students' probability of receiving excellent grades. Further analysis of the sustainable influence of different forms of financial support on students' academic development reveals that receiving National Scholarships and National Encouragement Scholarships can significantly increase the probability of study exchanges between sponsored students and teachers and classmates and attending study seminars, and receiving higher National Scholarships and Work-study positions can help sponsored students clarify their study goals and increase study exchanges with teachers and classmates. The results of this study show that the students' academic development is sustainably influenced by the National Scholarships and Work-study positions. Based on the results of the empirical study, this study proposes countermeasures and suggestions in terms of precise financial aid system, allocation of financial aid resources, and Work-study positions, so as to improve the sustainable impact of higher education mixed financial aid system on college students' academic development in China.
Point 2: Introduction to the topic contingent and updated. However, it would improve the identification of the objective in order to make it easier for readers to follow the investigative process sequentially.
Response 2: The introduction has been updated in the manuscript to improve the understanding.
The following part has beed added:
In this paper, we analyze the impact of financial aid for college students in China on the academic development of the recipients using data from a questionnaire survey conducted by the National Student Financial Aid Center of China among students in 11 colleges and universities, focusing on the group of college students who received financial aid. The paper analyzes not only the impact of different types of financial aid (scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study grants) on students' academic development, but also the impact of the degree of different types of financial aid. The results of the study showed that National Scholarships, National Encouragement Scholarships and National Student Loans had a positive effect on academic performance, but National Grants and Work-study positions had a significant inhibitory effect on academic performance. To better under-stand the mechanisms by which financial aid may affect students' academic development, we also analyzed the relationships between different types of financial aid and learning goals, learning exchanges, and participation in lectures. The study found that National Scholarships and National Encouragement Scholarships had a positive impact on in-creasing learning exchanges between sponsored students and teachers and peers, and on participation in learning lectures.
The structure of the paper is as follows. In the next section, we provide an overview of some existing studies in China and Europe and the US. The third section outlines the theoretical framework and research hypotheses of the paper. The fourth section presents the data, sample, variables, and methods. The fifth section presents the study results. In the sixth section, the main research findings results are summarized and relevant countermeasures are suggested in the seventh section.
Point 3: It would be advisable to segregate a section of Conclusions, differentiated from the Discussion, so that the reader can easily go through the research process.
Response 3: The original discussion section of the article has been changed into two parts, Conclusions and Discussion, in order to give the article a clearer structure.
Best regards,
Shuyu Qi, Xiaohui Ji, Qiutong Ma
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
