This brief analyzes changes the House Committee on Education and the Workforce proposed to the income-driven repayment (IDR) plans for federal student loans under the fiscal year 2025 budget reconciliation process. The bill was approved in committee in April 2025. If enacted, it would replace existing IDR plans with a new plan (the Repayment…

In 2016 Chile initiated a policy of free tuition for students from families in the lower half of the income distribution to improve access to and completion of higher education. The empirical effectiveness of the policy has not yet been completely demonstrated. This study analysed the difference in levels of academic performance of students…

This dissertation contains three essays that examine the influence of state policies on transfer enrollment at 4-year institutions. The first essay is a systematic review of 16 studies that provide an understanding of the literature on state policies and transfer enrollment at 4-year institutions. In the review I provide an understanding of who…

State agencies rely on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) as an essential part of their postsecondary education data systems. The system provides common definitions and standardized indicators that enable consistent measurement across institutions and states, enabling institutional and state comparisons, accountability…

This study examines the relationship between earning dual credits and college students' scholarships and grants packages, and levels, focusing on low-income students. Using nationally representative data from the High School Longitudinal Study 2009, I used a quasi-experimental approach to reduce selection bias of DE credit-earning coupled with…

Summer melt refers to applicants who showed intentions of starting college, but ultimately did not attend. The purpose of this program evaluation was to evaluate a text messaging intervention offered to community college applicants aimed at reducing summer melt of all students, but particularly first-generation students. Applicants often face…

This study examined the relationship between individual and institutional characteristics for student veterans who borrow money while enrolled in degree-seeking programs. Using data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS 16), we established predictors of borrowing, implications of borrowing, and examined patterns in total aid…

College affordability is a significant factor in student access, retention, and completion. Tuition and fee rates are a component of affordability, as is the availability of financial aid programs from federal, state, institutional and private sources, among other factors. Strategically designed approaches to college affordability can better…

We evaluate the effects of the 2020 student debt moratorium that paused payments for student loan borrowers. Using administrative credit panel data, we show that the payment pause led to a sharp drop in student loan payments and delinquencies for borrowers subject to the debt moratorium, as well as an increase in credit scores. We find a large…

This article uses a sample of 13,643 students attending a 4-year state university in Florida to estimate a selection-bias corrected quantile regression of loan debt at graduation. The study investigates whether the debt levels of students who received the Florida Bright Futures (FBF) scholarship are significantly different from the debt levels of…

A growing literature suggests the combination of financial aid, academic support and student advising may be needed to ensure that students, especially low-income students, not only enroll in college but obtain a degree. Established at CUNY in 1965, the Search for Education, Elevation, and Knowledge (SEEK) program is a legislatively mandated…

England's higher education funding system has been reformed many times, leading to a system based on high fees and loans. Undergraduate tuition fees for full-time students were introduced in 1998 and rose to £3,000 a year in 2006, increasing further to £9,000 in 2021. Through a series of in-depth interviews, this report from Professor Claire…

Despite the growing awareness of the role that families play in the experience of student borrowing, debt is still understood as a private experience. As student debt becomes more widespread, individuals are increasingly likely to know others with student loans, yet questions remain about how others--friends, acquaintances, and colleagues--may…

The purpose of this study is to outline a new approach to the comparative analysis of student finance systems based on social rights, an approach widely applied in other areas of social policy. It focuses on rights codified in national legislation and financed by central governments, and the collection of indicators measuring formal eligibility…

For years Georgia's HOPE Scholarship program provided full tuition scholarships to high-achieving students. State budgetary shortfalls reduced its generosity in 2011. Under the new rules, only students meeting more rigorous merit-based criteria would retain the original scholarship covering full tuition, now called the Zell Miller Scholarship,…