In response to rising college tuition and student debt over the past three decades, some institutions, localities, and states have implemented a range of tuition-free promise programs to promote college access and success. Programs vary widely in their design features, including eligibility stipulations and award structure. I explore the growing…

New York State (NYS) launched the Excelsior Scholarship in 2017. It is designed to make college tuition-free for students who attend publicly funded institutions and meet certain criteria. Is this scholarship a good investment for taxpayers of NYS? How long does it take taxpayers to recover their investment? This case analysis takes a perspective…

Education researchers have explored the marketisation of schools resulting from neoliberal education policy, but little attention has been paid to supplementary education markets. Supplementary education services, such as private tuition, are delivered outside of school but designed to improve performance within it. A small body of research…

This paper examines how colleges respond to the introduction of broad merit aid programs. Previous research has emphasized the impact of merit aid on enrollment, student choices, and post-matriculation outcomes. Yet much less is known about how state-implemented merit aid programs affect colleges' financial decisions. To explore impacts, college…

For nearly 50 years, the cost of higher education has risen faster than the pace of inflation, with federal student aid contributing to increasing tuition. In 1987, Secretary of Education William J. Bennett penned a "New York Times" article, "Our Greedy Colleges," in which he wrote, "If anything, increases in financial aid…

Increases in the frequency of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) within the postsecondary education system are now beginning to surface. Through a review of the literature this paper will focus on the persistence, retention and successful completion of autistics in the postsecondary education (PSE) sector. The author found no concrete statistics for…

This Postsecondary Education Descriptive Analysis Report uses data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies (NPSAS:96, NPSAS:2000 and NPSAS:04) to examine trends in Stafford loan borrowing among undergraduates. NPSAS consists of nationally representative survey data that focus on student financial aid and the enrollment and background…

This report discusses the current state of higher education, with a brief high-level overview of the market and a more detailed discussion and analysis of the financial aid system. It also discusses the important changes President Obama has made to make higher education more accessible and affordable. The key findings are: (1) The economic returns…

Making college education more affordable is a central goal of the Obama Administration and has been a focus of Vice-President Biden's Taskforce on the Middle Class. To that end, the Task Force asked U.S. Treasury Department to prepare this report on how to make Section 529 college savings plans a more effective and reliable tool for families to…

This article conducts a meta-analysis of results of studies by Andrieu (1991), DeAngelis (1998), and Liseo (2005) to assess changes over time in the effects of financial aid and other factors on graduate student persistence. A descriptive review of the studies finds that combination aid packages encouraged persistence in 1987 (Andrieu, 1991),…

Information is presented on the three prepaid tuition programs and four college savings bond programs currently in operation in the United States, and the fiscal issues involved in their implementation are summarized. The three prepaid tuition programs are in Michigan, Wyoming, and Florida. The characteristics of the three programs are outlined…

Three plans for reforming the financing of students wishing to attend college, therefore improving college affordability, are outlined: (1) improving the college loan system; (2) mitigating high tuition with high student aid; and (3) making comprehensive changes at all levels of the college finance system (the Plan of the National Commission on…

Low-income students and students whose parents have not attended college typically are less likely than middle- and upper-income students to complete high school and attend college, and are thus less likely to reap the benefits of attending college. Lack of information, resources, and exposure to others who have navigated the college process may…

This book is designed as a guide to existing and proposed higher education tuition financing plans. The first chapter looks at recent patterns in higher education financing and participation noting the rapid increase in tuition and other college costs and the corresponding changes in participation patterns. Chapter 2 examines tuition prepayments,…

Reviews the literature describing the development and outcomes of tuition-waiver programs for older adults in Canadian universities, reporting the results of the first Canadian national survey of tuition-waiver programs. Despite the widespread availability of tuition-waiver programs in Canada and the United States, such programs have failed to…