This article presents a synthesized historiography of higher education in American prisons, exploring interactions of federal, state, and institution-level policies within six specific states: California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, and Texas. We define considerations for researchers, policymakers, and advocates regarding…

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…

The nation's workforce demands look vastly different today than they did just a few years ago. The COVID-19 pandemic, economic challenges, and complex technological developments across all industries continue to change the way America works. Unfortunately, labor market demand has not coincided with similar shifts in America's education systems,…

This brief examines how specific college affordability policies and practices at the federal, state, and institutional levels can be strengthened to close racial equity gaps in college affordability and completion and to support widespread diversity and representation in higher education. By increasing access to financial aid and shifting the way…

The eligibility rules of state financial aid programs vary widely by state and by program. This is also true of eligibility rules pertaining to students impacted by the justice system. This goal of this resource is to enable stakeholders to compare eligibility requirements pertaining to justice system impact across major aid programs and…

"Investigating the Impacts of College Closures on Student Outcomes" is the first of three planned novel reports, co-authored by SHEEO and the NSC Research Center, seeking to quantify the impacts of college closures on students' subsequent postsecondary enrollment and completion outcomes and to identify the policy levers states may have…

What do state policies say about how to fund postsecondary education? This 50-State Comparison answers this question by searching state statutes, state rules and regulations, enacted state budget bills, and state postsecondary education agency policies that address postsecondary education budgeting and funding. According to the content of the…

This dissertation includes three chapters focusing on policies directly related to improving college access and success. The first chapter focuses on lifetime eligibility of federal and state financial aid policies. The Pell Grant plays a critical role in helping students across the US to afford undergraduate education. In spite of its importance…

It feels like an ocean's worth of ink has been dedicated to the rising cost of college. From press coverage to the latest public opinion polls to the drumbeat of proposals for "free college," you could be forgiven for assuming that the only real problem with American higher education is the price tag. And cost is, indeed, a real issue.…

The United States leads the world in the number of incarcerated persons per 100,000. In today's global economy, these numbers represent huge wastes in human capital, especially when you consider the inequitable nature of the American criminal justice system, as witnessed by the disproportionate racial and ethnic composition, types of crimes, and…

California had a long tradition of very low tuition for students enrolled in public higher education. The state broke with that policy in the 2000s, when recessions resulted in significant cuts to state funding for public colleges and universities--the University of California (UC), California State University (CSU), and California's community…

Nearly four million U.S. undergraduate college students are parents or guardians of children under the age of 18. These student parents, who already faced immense financial, child care, food, and housing insecurity before the COVID-19 pandemic, are now dealing with multiple new barriers, including school closures, lay-offs, and child care…

"Aiding Success: The Role of Federal and State Financial Aid in Supporting California Community College Students" documents the variation in student graduation and transfer rates by students' financial situation. The authors of "Aiding Success" analyzed detailed financial aid and student success data from the California…

This dissertation is a policy evaluation of the HOPE Grant Program in the state of Georgia. It examines if the HOPE Grant policy change related to the shifts in enrollment and financial aid awards at two-year technical colleges in Georgia. It particularly focuses on the FY2011 policy change where the GPA was raised from a 2.0 to a 3.0 as a…

The "Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006" ("Perkins IV" or "Act") authorizes federal funding for career and technical education (CTE) and specifies a formula for distributing those funds. Allocations at the secondary level are based on the number of youths ages 5-17 who reside within a local…