Financial aid plays an essential role not only in allowing many students to enroll in college but also in supporting them in attaining completion and success. Often, however, the total amount of aid does not come close to covering the cost of attendance for full-time students. As a result, the majority of students enrolled at two-year public…

Financial aid plays an essential role not only in allowing many students to enroll in college but also in supporting them in attaining completion and success. Often, however, the total amount of aid does not come close to covering the cost of attendance for full-time students. As a result, the majority of students enrolled at two-year public…

The Aid Like A Paycheck student survey was designed to shed light on students' academic and financial attitudes, behaviors, and circumstances over the course of a semester. This supplement to MDRC's final report on Aid Like A Paycheck describes the survey, response rates, and responses to each survey item at three community college systems: two in…

College enrollment and completion rates among low-income and historically underserved students are lower than those of their middle- and upper-income counterparts. "Promise scholarships," also known as "last dollar" scholarships, are becoming an increasingly popular way for states throughout the U.S. to incentivize…

This handbook updates the general descriptions for the indicators of the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program (PCEIP) as new sets of tables are released. It is a reference document that gives readers a broad understanding of each indicator, rather than the very specific methodological descriptions that would be necessary to reproduce the…

Evidence shows that financial aid increases college enrollment. For many students at low-cost community colleges, this aid is intended to cover more than tuition and fees; after those are paid, the remainder is paid out, or "refunded," to students to help with their living expenses while they are enrolled in school. Often, however, the…

Evidence shows that financial aid increases college enrollment. For many students at low-cost community colleges, this aid is intended to cover more than tuition and fees; after those are paid, the remainder is paid out, or "refunded," to students to help with their living expenses while they are enrolled in school. Often, however, the…

The Success Boston initiative was launched in 2008 specifically to improve Boston public high school graduates' access to and success in college, particularly for members of groups traditionally underrepresented in college degree attainment. Higher college graduation rates, in turn, are expected to increase students' access to employment in such…

Access to middle class jobs increasingly requires a college degree or credential. Individuals with postsecondary education have competitive advantage in the labor market: even when a job does not explicitly require a degree, a candidate with a degree will tend to be hired over an equally qualified candidate without one. Low-income students, in…

One of the original purposes of student financial aid was to ensure fairer access to post-secondary education to those least able to afford it and to those traditionally underrepresented. Various federal and state programs were put in place to achieve this goal, including the federal Pell Grant and state aid programs. Yet policymakers and…

This report provides six mini-case studies of higher education policy reforms enacted in other states, exploring the important role that state policy leadership played in developing, promoting, and implementing these policies aimed at improving higher education outcomes, and discussing the relevance of each reform effort for California. This…

The Department of Education Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2014-2018 describes the key policy and operational priorities for the agency. The Plan details the Department's strategic performance goals, objectives and indicators of success over the next five years. The Plan also provides an overview of our Fiscal Year 2014-2015 agency Priority…

The expense of attending college is one factor that may explain why low-income students often drop out of school. In California, despite generous state aid and relatively low fees at community colleges, many low-income students still have substantial college-related costs that they cannot cover. To compound matters, federal support for students…

This Annual Plan presents the major initiatives and priorities the U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General (OIG) intends to undertake to assist the Department in fulfilling its responsibilities to America's taxpayers and students. The Department continues to face a significant number of challenges in FY 2013 that…

Notwithstanding years of retention efforts, graduation rates of Latinas/os remain alarmingly low. The purpose of this review is threefold. First, the authors go beyond traditional theory and highlight those scholars who shed new information on retention for Latina/o students. Second, they summarize factors that specifically affect Latina/o…