Administrative burden, or the frictions individuals experience in accessing public programs, has implications for whether and which eligible individuals receive aid. While prior research documents barriers to accessing federal financial aid, less is known about the extent to which state aid programs impose administrative burden, nor how administrative burden varies across aid programs or how it relates to target populations. This study examines administrative burden in 19 state aid programs in Tennessee. We find programs targeting less-advantaged students (technical and community college students) have lower burdens than those targeting more-advantaged students (merit-aid programs, programs available across sectors). The state’s only program explicitly targeting racially minoritized students had the highest burden. We discuss implications for designing more equitable and effective state aid programs.
