This study examines the George Coles bursary program--a financial aid plan designed to "keep residents at home" so they can attend university, by providing a bursary in their first year of university following high school graduation. The study offers insight into higher education students' financial circumstances, thereby suggesting…

During the apartheid years in South Africa, career guidance amongst disadvantaged learners was largely absent and, for many, career choices were limited and governed by politics. Despite South Africa having celebrated 20 years of democracy, this situation has improved only slightly. Therefore, the aims of the study were to determine the factors…

The funding of students in UK higher education (HE) has undergone radical reform over the past two decades. Using a unique dataset, this paper investigates student expectations of debt. We find that a student's gender, ethnicity, and year of study play an important role in determining their expected debt. Students in receipt of financial support…

Although a growing number of individuals are enrolling in college in response to the increasing payoff to higher education, more than a third of them never finish. College completion rates are especially disappointing for low-income students, in many cases because they tend to enter college underprepared academically but also because they have…

Students who are first in their families to pursue higher education are often less likely to receive the academic, social, and financial support needed to experience success when compared to students from college-educated families. This study examined the perceived differences among salient factors influencing the pursuit of higher education…

Results of a survey of the use of no-need/merit awards (grants, scholarships, and tuition remissions) at 398 higher education institutions are presented. The study sought answers to six questions: (1) What is the extent of use of no-need awards? (2) Has there been any tendency for the extent of use of no-need awards to change over time? (3) For…

The data presented represent the current status of an ongoing project to develop, test, implement, and evaluate a wide range of new and different ways to providing information to students about costs and aid. The data, examples, and recommendations reflect the state of the art in better information for student choice in December 1976. The report…

This document, the fifth in a series of student financial aid research reports, summarizes the results of three American College Testing (ACT) program studies of the new financial aid applicant categories of dislocated workers and displaced homemakers. The three studies involved description, verification, and simulation, respectively. The…

Findings of a California committee that investigated computer-based student aid search services are examined. In mid-1982, over 40 computer search organizations had been identified. A survey of the organizations found that almost all were private-for-profit firms. Only four of the respondents that offer a direct service to students maintain their…

Learning Clicks is a program under the provincial department of Advanced Education and Technology's "Raising Awareness about Planning for Post-Secondary" (RAPPS) umbrella; an initiative that supports Strategy 2.4 in Alberta Advanced Education and Technology's 2007-10 Business Plan to enhance parents' and learners' knowledge and awareness…

Characteristics of new students who received fellowships, assistantships, and loans at a large public research university in the Midwest are discussed. The purpose was to determine which of the characteristics led to an increased likelihood of receiving support: undergraduate grades, GRE scores, gender, ethnicity, citzenship, age, and field of…

This paper is part of a larger study that focuses on how today's community college students are paying for their education. Analysis of the data collected for this study shows that students who cohabit display distinctly different characteristics than single, divorced and married students. These include such things as being more likely to have no…

The question of whether the quality improvement rhetoric has led to changes in state funding levels and funding strategies in the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states is considered. The information reported here is based on an extensive review of education finance officers, and on-site visits to about half of education finance officers,…

Documentation is provided to aid users of a file that contains data on financial aid and school costs for a sample of students in the 1985-86 school year. Each record contains information from the school registrar's office, from the student financial aid office record, and from a questionnaire completed by students. There are 3,774 records on the…

This report summarizes trend data on borrowing by students and parents to pay for college, and reports on a 1995 national survey of undergraduate students and their parents concerning student loan debt. Analysis of data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study found that there was an explosion in college borrowing in the 1990s; borrowing…