As state-level merit-based financial aid programs proliferate, analysts both find that these programs have a disproportionate effect on students traditionally under-represented in postsecondary education and question the use of limited public resources in an inefficient and inequitable manner. This study, using survey data regarding the perceptions of all potentially eligible scholarship recipients, explores the impact the Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship on college access for minority and low-income students. The empirical results indicate that African American and low-income students are more likely to perceive their eligibility for merit-based scholarships as having an impact on their decision on whether or not to attend college. A consequential policy implication is that a liberally awarded merit-based scholarship program, while inefficient, may provide sustainable access for those students in greatest need of financial aid.