The paper provides a review of the literature on the relationships between unmet financial need and progress toward degree completion as well as a review of the findings from studies that show the effects of financial aid intervention on student persistence and completion. It then examines MDRC’s experimental data from the Performance-Based Scholarship (PBS) Demonstration, a study spanning six states around the United States. This data analysis identifies important student characteristics and relationships between students’ financial aid and their persistence and academic achievement. Finally, the paper concludes with recommendations for how these collective findings can be utilized by each sector in the financial aid policy arena.