In 2018-2019, North Carolina implemented a loan forgiveness program to recruit talented postsecondary students into teaching majors in needed subject areas. This qualitative case study analyzes the influence of the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program (NCTFP) on 10 student participants' college, major, and career plans in STEM education to…

We investigate the effects of a statewide program designed to increase the supply of teachers in designated "hard-to-staff" areas, such as special education, math, and science. Employing a difference-in-difference estimator we find that the loan forgiveness component of the program was effective, reducing mean attrition rates for middle…

Purpose: The landscape of education loan repayment programs for health care professionals has been turbulent in recent years, with doubling of the funding for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and cuts in funding for some states' programs. We sought to understand how this turbulence is being felt within the state offices involved in…

Amid a recession that's squeezing state budgets and pushing more families into poverty, teams of officials from 39 states gathered near Washington last week to explore ways to better meet the educational and health needs of young children. The Sept. 16-18 meeting, sponsored by the National Governors Association, came as the U.S. House of…

A variety of alternatives to traditional means of financing a college education are being developed by states and institutions in response to rising tuitions. The ideas, including novel payment and loan plans and tuition futures, are often controversial because of the risks they entail. (MSE)

State low-interest college loans programs for middle-class families have emerged in response to restrictions on federally subsidized Stafford Loans. The key difference between federal and state programs is that most state programs require student borrowers and cosigners to prove good credit risks, reducing loan default and making the programs…

Various ways of financing career change are discussed: student financial aid through state and federal programs, college and university programs, alumni groups, minority programs, religious groups, etc. A list of sources of aid for women, organizations that aid minorities, and a list of publications on financial aid are also included. (CT)

Some state-supported medical school programs have payback and loan repayment programs requiring physician service in rural/underserved areas. Survey of 183 University of Washington medical students from Alaska, Montana, and Idaho found half would avoid attending a medical school with mandatory payback, but half thought such a program would…

Pennsylvania's sophisticated system for student loan fraud and abuse detection is described, including the factors felt to contribute to its success and suggestions for improving other state agency fraud units. (MSE)

State-sponsored programs that seek to attract college students to teaching by paying off a portion of their student loans for each year they teach are reviewed and discussed. (MSE)

A study of student borrowing in the Indiana Guaranteed Student Loan Program focused on impacts of loan amounts on college choice and other sources of student support. Findings related to family income levels and loan amounts, public versus private college choice and aid packages, student decision making, and student costs. Recommendations are made…

Over the last century, Americans have formed a social contract with higher education through the development of and changes to student financial aid programs. These federal, state, and institutional programs are the manifestation of the value we place on who should and who does pay the costs of higher education. Grants versus loans and low-income…

Despite increases in teacher education enrollments, urban schools continue to suffer from serious staffing vacancies, due in part to the shortage of prospective minority teachers. This article lists representative programs operating on Federal, state, higher education, and school district levels designed to recruit teachers for placement in urban…

Reviews historical trends in the academic abilities of education majors, considers the importance of such abilities in teachers, suggests factors affecting attitudes toward educational careers, discusses past proposals for attracting academically superior students to teaching, and suggests offering forgivable loans to superior students who will…

A survey of adult students in a community college and university continuing education division and parents of local high school juniors and seniors examined public opinion and understanding of five federal and two state aid programs. It showed that public knowledge of programs was largely limited to awareness of their existence. (MSE)