This paper seeks to enhance understanding of how low-income students navigate financial stress by integrating the asset-based concept of financial well-being and including a focus on the institutional context. Data collected from 378 interviews with students from low-income backgrounds illustrate complex ways that students experience financial…

Community college students must navigate complex financial aid policies and procedures to obtain their aid award. In this study, I investigated how Students of Color at a community college experience financial aid disbursements. Through qualitative interviews, I found that community colleges disburse aid to students through a process I define as…

College-in-prison programs are positioned to expand substantially under the reinstatement of Pell Grant eligibility for people in prison. While this change will enable more students who have been systemically excluded from higher education to attend college, degree completion is rare during incarceration and post-release. Student perspectives can…

This study employs data from the National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) Baccalaureate and Beyond Surveys to compare financial well-being among college graduates with varying social characteristics and levels of student debt. We use logistic regression to answer three questions: 1) To what extent does the amount of debt at graduation…

Research has shown that student loan borrowers in repayment exhibit physical and mental health problems. These can be exacerbated by and contribute to health-related financial hardship. We use the 2015 U.S. National Financial Capability Study to examine the likelihood of having past due medical bills and of avoiding health care services by not…

Through the lens of Human Capital theory, the role of financial aid (both amount and type) is explored in the context of student financial stress, and ultimately general student health. Data are taken from a sample of 232 students from a major Midwestern university who were surveyed about their financial attitudes, behavior and knowledge. The…

This study examined a sample of 2,475 undergraduate students to determine the influence of financial stress, debt loads, and financial counseling on retention rates. Results indicate, among other findings, that financial stress contributes to an increased likelihood of discontinuing college. Self-reported student loan debt contributes to an…

In 2006, Michigan changed their traditional merit award to a credit contingent program based upon successful completion of 60 college credits. The Michigan Promise Scholarship was crafted by state policymakers without input from the financial aid community. This case study suggests that the change in policy resulted in two unintended consequences:…

National statistics indicate that approximately 50 percent of all graduate students fail to complete their degree; thus, understanding the factors that influence their persistence is an important research objective. Using data from a nationally representative sample of bachelor's degree recipients, the study aimed to answer three questions: What…

A study of the influence of reduced state grants on students' decisions to remain at the same college, transfer, or withdraw from college found only a slight relationship between reduced aid and enrollment changes, with most students staying at the same school. (MSE)

Delinquency rates for rotating loan funds might be reduced if the financial aid officer took charge of loan billing and collection rather than relying on the bursar's office, which is often not as familiar with the loan programs. Methods used at Georgetown University are described. (LBH)

A study investigated the effect of emergency loans of up to $275 on retention among 504 loan applicants (347 granted and 157 denied) at 1 university. Results indicate the loans had little or no effect on the likelihood of a student remaining in college. (Author/MSE)

The study reported here attempts to trace family resource patterns in meeting educational expenses when help through the Federal college-based programs and the BEOG program has been denied. Questionnaire data provide a comparison of expected and actual family contributions and students' summer savings. (Author/LBH)

The new system is based upon recommendations of the Keppel Task Force and the concept of the federal-state-institutional partnership. There are obstacles, however, regarding the division between the Administration and Congress as to policy, the determination of goals for student assistance, the different constituencies to be served, and budgetary…

Educational policy has been directed toward assuring students access to some form of postsecondary education regardless of their financial or socioeconomic circumstances. Trends in enrollments of low-income freshman students are examined. Evidence indicates that college access by low-income students may have reached a plateau. (MLW)