Zusammenfassung:
This study examines how student aid eligibility influences application decisions to higher education using administrative data from France. We study the impact of a change in income thresholds for aid eligibility. We find that aid eligibility did not have a uniform effect on students' applications but varied by gender and academic performance. Highperforming male students shifted their First-Ranked application from non-selective to selective long-term programs. Yet, female students did not show a systematic response. We suggest that female students were more certain in their application choices, while male students faced stronger financial constraints than females when attending long-term selective programs.