Abstract: Since the autumn of 2007, the new state stipend policy has formally put into effect. This paper employs the multiple LOGIT model to study the factors affecting college students to receive state stipend. The factors affecting the probability of students’ access to the grants can be divided into two categories: the social economic status and the other characteristics. The social economic status includes the two factors of students’ basic conditions and their economic performance at school; while the other characteristics consist of their academic performance and the performance in the school activities. The results show that good academic performance and better ability in school activities can significantly improve the probability of attainting the government grants. As far as the applicants are concerned, the applicants not from the rural areas have easier access to the grants than those from the rural areas, which is obviously a departure from the target of setting up the state stipend. This study thinks that the government has not clearly defined the policy goal of the state stipend. When the government allocates the resources of the state stipend to universities and colleges, it is more inclined to the higher level universities. The empirical results also indicate that there is still room for governments and higher education institutions to further improve the publicity and communication of the application information and the application procedures, as well as the tracking analysis and guidance of the use of the state stipends.

Key words: state stipend; multiple LOGIT model; socioeconomic status; academic performance; performance of in-school activities