In July 2025, President Trump signed the Republican-led H.R. 1, the "One Big Beautiful Bill" (OBBB) into law. The new law is a sweeping tax and spending package that forgoes trillions in federal revenues to award tax cuts to the wealthy while stripping essential care and protections from women and families. While implementation of the…

Student parents face many challenges, including paying for child care, that can make it difficult for them to complete a degree. The federal government supports student parents through Education's Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program, which provides colleges funding for child care services, and federal student aid, which can…

Student-parents face unique postsecondary persistence and completion challenges as they balance raising children with the demands of coursework and possibly employment. In order to help lowincome student-parents earn degrees and credentials, the federal government provides Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) grants to institutions…

Research shows the economic benefits of postsecondary degree attainment, including higher earnings and lifetime wages. However, the full cost of college attendance is too high for most students even after receiving tuition assistance, such as grants and scholarships, making access to college inequitable, especially for low-income students and…

Nearly four million U.S. undergraduate college students are parents or guardians of children under the age of 18. These student parents, who already faced immense financial, child care, food, and housing insecurity before the COVID-19 pandemic, are now dealing with multiple new barriers, including school closures, lay-offs, and child care…

The "2018-19 Counselors and Mentors Handbook on Federal Student Aid" provides useful information to help high school counselors, TRIO and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) staff, and other mentors advise students about financial aid for postsecondary education. This book focuses on the federal…

The 2017-18 "Counselors and Mentors Handbook on Federal Student Aid" provides useful information to help high school counselors, TRIO and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) staff, and other mentors advise students about financial aid for postsecondary education. This book focuses on the federal…

This report shares the perspectives and aspirations of 17 low-income and working-class students based on interviews the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) conducted over two semesters of their college journeys. The report identifies opportunities for policymakers and institutional leaders to support all students through completion,…

As the Biden-Harris administration seeks to hasten the country's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, reforming the U.S. higher education system to ensure equitable access and attainment for all adults is more important than ever. Most student parents are mothers, students of color, adult and working learners, students with low incomes, and…

With grant and scholarship aid as well as family resources unable to keep pace with college costs, loans have become a fact of life for millions of college students each year. In deciding how and how much to borrow, these students are making highly consequential decisions that will impact their future in unknown ways. Policy should aim to reduce…

The designation "low income" is often assigned to students who are Federal Pell Grant eligible; however, family incomes for these recipients range from $0 to as high as $60,000 (Baum & Payea, 2011). Over 93% of all zero expected family contribution (EFC) students have a family income of $30,000 or less and constituted 67.4% of all…

The COVID-19 health crisis has laid bare the structural inequity in the financial aid system. The pandemic has hit the lowest-income students hardest, with many struggling to afford the basic technology for online learning on top of new or exacerbated food and housing insecurity. Federal and state dollars predicated on Pell Grant eligibility, time…

Student parents face many challenges to accessing, persisting, and completing postsecondary education. While some of these challenges are unique to student parents--such as finding quality child care during class and work hours and juggling studying and academic assignments with parenting duties--others are typical of low-income and underserved…

This publication presents a basic summary of student financial assistance programs provided by the federal government and explains how to apply for them. It begins by reviewing sources of information about student aid. A general information section covers student eligibility, financial need, dependency status, applying, special circumstances,…

This publication describes student financial assistance programs available through the U.S. Department of Education's student financial aid programs. Thirteen sections focus on: "Education after High School"; "Paying Tuition and Other Costs"; "Applying for Financial Aid"; "Eligibility Criteria";…