A great read-worth the time-demystifies the complex role of merit/need based awards for LACs.
https://www.ilr.cornell.edu/sites/ilr.cornell.edu/files/CHERI%20WP181.pdf
This article discusses why liberal arts colleges offer students various awards: What drives their decision making about them. It might be puzzling to understand why liberal arts colleges, especially those that are struggling financially, decide to provide various types of awards, who they give them to and how the awards interface with the mission of the school. This article answers some of those questions in an informative and thoughtful way.