Financial Distress and Grade Point Average: Scholarship Versus Non-Scholarship Students
Purpose: This study compares the level of financial distress and Grade Point Average (GPA) between scholarship-recipient and non-scholarship students at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar, in order to determine whether scholarship support is associated with lower financial pressure and stronger academic achievement.
Research Methodology: The study uses a quantitative comparative approach. Data were collected through a questionnaire measuring financial distress and documentation of student GPA. The sample consisted of 120 students, 60 scholarship recipients and 60 non-scholarship students, selected through purposive sampling, with data analyzed using descriptive statistics and an Independent Sample t-Test.
Results: The findings show a significant difference in financial distress between scholarship and non-scholarship students (p < 0.05), with non-scholarship students reporting a higher mean financial distress score (3.48) than scholarship recipients (2.34). A significant difference in GPA was likewise found (p < 0.05), with scholarship recipients recording a higher mean GPA (3.61) than non-scholarship students (3.29).
Conclusions: Scholarship assistance helps reduce the financial distress experienced by students and supports stronger academic performance, as reflected in GPA, indicating that financial support functions as more than a tuition subsidy and extends into students' broader financial well-being and academic outcomes.
Limitations: This study is confined to students at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Muhammadiyah Makassar, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other populations.
Contributions: This study contributes to the literature on student financial well-being by providing empirical evidence on the relationship among financial distress, scholarship status, and academic achievement.
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