This review explores the expanding role of federal aid policy considered from a contemporary and social justice perspective. It highlights recent trends in aid policy as well as difficulties that arise from the current system. Next, the review takes up an analysis of current aid policy that carefully considers equity and efficiency as primary…

Data on student aid for 2015-16 confirm that the dramatic increases in aid awarded in 2009-10 and 2010-11 were products of extreme economic circumstances, not harbingers of long-run changes in financing for postsecondary education. Both total federal education loans and federal loans per full-time equivalent (FTE) student declined for the fifth…

As the nation slowly emerges from the Great Recession, the patterns of student aid are returning to the paths they were on before the economy crashed. The federal government, which dramatically stepped up its subsidies to students in 2009-10 and 2010-11, continues to play an expanded role, but not a growing role. Students continue to borrow at…

After increasing by 18% (in inflation-adjusted dollars) between 2007-08 and 2010-11, the total amount students borrowed in federal and non-federal education loans declined by 13% between 2010-11 and 2013-14. Growth in full-time equivalent (FTE) postsecondary enrollment of 16% over the first three years, followed by a decline of 4% over the next…

The recent focus on student debt makes reliable data about how much students are borrowing, how borrowing patterns differ among students across different types of institutions and at different levels of enrollment, and about changes over time particularly important. While total student borrowing has grown rapidly over the past decade, the rate of…

Trends in Student Aid, an annual College Board publication since 1983, is a compendium of detailed, up-to-date information on the funding that is available to help students pay for college. This report documents grant aid from federal and state governments, colleges and universities, employers, and other private sources, as well as loans, tax…

Student employment subsidies are one of the largest types of federal employment subsidies, and one of the oldest forms of student aid. Yet it is unclear whether they help or harm students' long term outcomes. This document contains the appendices to the report "Should Student Employment Be Subsidized? Conditional Counterfactuals and the…

A staff report on the availability of financial aid funds to students in California was presented to the Board of Governors of California Community Colleges and includes 13 recommendations for action. The report indicates a continuing increase in federal aid funds since 1955, with over $8 billion available in 1978-79. A review of federal and state…

A study examined operation of the campus-based Federal Work-Study (FWS) program and experiences and satisfaction of postsecondary students receiving this aid. A survey of FWS students during Fall 1998 indicated the following: (1) nearly all were satisfied with the program; (2) more than 95 percent would participate in the program again; (3) 80…

Discusses the effects of welfare reform on American Indian families and college students. Contends that, under the new federal welfare program, tribes that choose to administer welfare will lose matching funds from state governments, resulting in a 30-50% loss of welfare benefits for eligible recipients. (JDI)

Following an explanation of the Eureka Project, which studies the financing of higher education opportunities in California, introductory information is provided on the effects of student financial aid in California on both students and colleges. Some points to be considered in understanding the relationship between student aid and institutional…