Beyond Merit: Rethinking Who Deserves to Graduate
Nov. 11, 2025 | By Ruthe Farmer
Somewhere along the line, financial aid became a reward system. Students who earn high grades or test scores are deemed “deserving” of support, while those who struggle—academically or financially—are left to fend for themselves.
At public colleges, spending on non-need (merit)-based aid surged from $1.1 billion in 2001 to $3 billion in 2017—reflecting a growing tendency to reward academic performance over financial vulnerability (Inside Higher Ed, “Rise in Non-Need Merit Aid Raises Equity Concerns,” 2023).
But here’s the truth: the vast majority of students who leave college in their final semesters aren’t failing. They’re passing. They’re on track. They’re just broke.
And if we’re serious about innovation and the future of work, it’s time to dismantle the myth that merit and need are opposites.
The Invisible Barriers of “Merit”
Traditional financial aid frameworks reward stability—something many low-income and first-generation students simply don’t have. A student managing full-time work, caregiving, or unstable housing may not ace every exam—but that doesn’t make them less capable.
In fact, it often makes them more resilient, resourceful, and workforce-ready than their more privileged peers.
When we treat “merit” as the measure of worthiness, we confuse predictable circumstances for potential. We conflate privilege and performance.
What the Data Actually Shows
According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (2023), nearly 20% of students who leave college have completed three-quarters of their degree—and a Gallup & Lumina Foundation (2024) study finds that 87% cite cost as a key reason for stopping out. Their GPA isn’t the problem—their financial reality is.
At Last Mile, we see this daily. Students come to us not because they’ve fallen behind, but because they’ve hit a temporary wall: a tuition gap, an expired financial aid package, or a crisis at home.
When we step in with small, fast, flexible grants—averaging less than $3,000—the results are transformative: 74% of recipients graduate, often within the same semester.
Merit didn’t predict that success. Access did.
A New Kind of Sufficiency
Last Mile’s “abundance model” flips the old paradigm. Instead of gatekeeping aid through merit filters, we trust students to know what they need and when they need it. There are no GPA cutoffs. No essays designed to prove worth. No hoops to jump through to earn empathy.
We’ve learned that sufficiency—not selectivity—is what drives outcomes. When students have enough, they succeed.
Trust as an Investment Strategy
Critics sometimes ask: “How do you know students will use the funds responsibly?” Our answer is simple: they already are.
Every award we make is based on accountability through impact. The data speaks for itself: graduates who received Last Mile support go on to work in industries that power America’s economy—engineering, cybersecurity, data science, and more.
They become taxpayers, innovators, and mentors to the next generation. Trust isn’t just a moral stance—it’s an economically sound one.
The Future Demands a Broader Definition of Merit
As automation, AI, and global competition reshape the workforce, America can’t afford to equate “merit” with perfection. We need creative problem-solvers who’ve learned to navigate uncertainty—exactly the kind of talent that today’s nontraditional students represent.
If our systems continue to favor those with stable lives over those with real-world grit, we’re systematically filtering out the innovators we most need.
Graduation Is Not a Privilege—it’s a Public Good
Every degree completed expands opportunity not just for one person, but for families and communities.
Each graduate lifts local economies, inspires younger students, and fills critical workforce gaps.
When aid systems are designed for perfection instead of potential, they fail the people—and the country—they were meant to serve. We have the power to change that narrative.
Let’s redefine merit as an investment in persistence.