Financial aid plays a critical role in college access and student success. It plays an increasingly important role as the college-going population continues to diversify and the cost of college continues to rise at both public and private institutions. In this study, the authors examined whether institutional level financial aid has any direct effects on the student development outcomes of teamwork, leadership, and critical thinking. The study is grounded on the idea that an institutional climate of financial support is positively linked to student development outcomes. In particular, the results show that the average amount of grant aid received per student in an institution has some positive effects on leadership and critical thinking for all students, regardless of their own individual financial need. While this analysis shows positive relationships between the amount of aid received and the student outcomes, due to the methods utilized, the authors are less able to posit why these relationships exist. Overall, Park, Denson, and Johnson conclude that their findings point to the salience of institutional-level contexts and how such environments set the stage for student growth during the college years.