Using data from two freshmen cohorts at a public research university (N = 3730), this study examines the relationship between loan aid and second-year enrollment persistence. Applying a counterfactual analytical framework that relies on propensity score (PS) weighting and matching to address selection bias associated with treatment status, the…

Deregulation of for-profit colleges led to a precipitous rise in enrollments from 1990 to 2010. Since 2010, regulation, investigations, and sanctions have led to enrollment declines in for-profit postsecondary institutions. Initially barred from receiving Title IV federal funds, in the form of Pell Grants and Stafford Loans, for-profit colleges…

Underrepresented students have been identified as being less likely to attain a college degree than their majority counterparts. Service-learning (SL) offers students an opportunity to engage in community work and improve skills that might contribute to their educational success in college. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of SL…

Does extra financial aid for the summer lead to gains in completion and earnings? Despite being the largest source of financial aid to low-income college students, the traditional Pell Grant has had one major limitation: if students enroll in two semesters full-time, they will not have any tuition support for the summer term of the same academic…