The article is an analysis which focuses on the years after the Great Recession, to show the interplay between federal and state policies. The first year after American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) federal stimulus funds ended, Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, coincided with new federal Pell Grant eligibility restrictions. State appropriations for…

Community colleges have been under pressure for years to improve retention rates. Considering well-publicized reductions in state funding during and after the Great Recession, progress in this area is unexpected. And yet this is precisely what we find. Using the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), we find an average increase in…

College plays a critical role in providing opportunities for economic mobility, yet degree attainment by race is inequitable. Currently, more than half of young white adults hold at least a two-year college degree, compared to 37 percent of Black young adults. Less than a third of Hispanic, American Indian, and Hawaiian or Pacific Islander young…

For decades, state disinvestment in public higher education, paired with inequitable funding across institution types, has undermined states' ability to provide accessible and affordable higher education opportunities. In recent years, varied higher education stakeholders began calling for an end to state disinvestment through a reimagined…

The community college, like all of higher education, has been significantly impacted by the Great Recession and coincidental increased enrollment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the decision making processes of community college presidents as related to resource allocation and the impact of these decisions on the…

Given the stakes and the current economic climate, U.S. higher education officials across the country are stepping up their advocacy efforts, making their voices louder and more persistent than ever. They are vying for the attention of states struggling with increased demands for limited revenues, most choosing to divert dollars from higher…

After a number of years of enrollment growth at the nation's community colleges, total headcount enrollments leveled off in fall 2011 from the previous year. A collaborative analysis of the American Association of Community Colleges and the National Student Clearinghouse shows an enrollment decrease of almost 1% from fall 2010 to 2011. Despite…

As states and families begin to recover from the effects of the Great Recession, some of the urgency about college affordability may start to ease. The most recent "Trends in College Pricing" report shows tuition rising more slowly than in recent years (Baum and Ma 2013). Growth in Pell grant applications is also expected to slow as…

California's fiscal crisis is more severe than those of past decades and as a result, the State's community colleges have experienced substantial cuts to their budgets. Multiple reductions in funding since 2008 have forced colleges to scale back their course offerings, reduce personnel, and limit student services. This lack of funding has created…

With tax revenues beginning to rebound in most states and endowments on the rebound at many private and public institutions, colleges and universities are growing more hopeful about their financial outlook and instituting new strategies to take advantage of the opportunities. Yet as the economic recovery has slowed in the past few months,…

This "Trends in College Spending" update presents national-level estimates for the "Delta Cost Project" data metrics during the period 2001-11. To accelerate the release of more current trend data, however, this update includes only a brief summary of the financial patterns and trends observed during the decade 2001-11, with…

With current tuition increases at more than double the rate of inflation and cuts in state funding and Pell Grant programs, students and their families are being squeezed financially. The purpose of this study was to uncover access and funding issues by displaying current year and future year predictions for all access sectors including community…

The combination of a weak economy with a corresponding decline in tax revenue has created deficits in state and local budgets which adversely affect the financial stability of community colleges. This leaves community colleges struggling to continue to provide education in support of their missions. To provide a source of alternative revenue,…

Every community college engages in partnerships and collaboration. The trend for community colleges has been to increase the number and diversity of partnerships and collaborations. Current economic conditions, which require community colleges to serve more students with decreased state funding and to assume a larger role in workforce development,…

In the midst of the global recession, how have national governments viewed the role of higher education in their evolving strategies for economic recovery? Demand for higher education generally goes up during economic downturns. Which nations have proactively protected funding for their universities and colleges to help maintain access, to help…