In 2016, the federal government provided students pursuing higher education with about $91 billion in direct financial support through a wide variety of spending programs and income and payroll tax preferences, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. The largest programs and preferences give financial assistance to students to offset the cost…

This study aims to develop a list of technological enhancements to a financial aid analytics application (F3A) designed to assist higher education leaders in gaining actionable insights for decision-making with grants optimization. This research utilizes the Design Science Research framework which highlights the design and evaluation of an IT…

The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant aims to increase the number of highly qualified individuals teaching in high-need fields, such as reading specialist, mathematics, or science, at high-need schools. TEACH Grants provide up to $4,000 per academic year to students preparing to become teachers. To receive…

The U.S. Department of Education's Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant aims to increase the number of teachers in high-need fields and schools by providing up to $4,000 per year to undergraduate and graduate students enrolling in coursework to become a teacher. To meet the requirements of the TEACH Grant,…

Many college students struggle financially, and student debt continues to grow in the United States. Students that complete a degree can have high monthly student loan payments, and those that do not complete a degree can struggle financially even more. There is a growing amount of research examining methods to reduce these financial challenges.…

With student loan debt reaching approximately $1.4 trillion, critics are concerned that student loans may be the next financial bubble to burst. They cite students with loans of more than $100,000 and ballooning loan default rates. They contend that borrowing for higher education may not be worth the financial risks, especially for students who…

Each year, there are millions of students nationwide who are selected for this audit-like process after completing their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In fact, over half of Pell Grant-eligible FAFSA applicants were selected for verification for the 2016-17 FAFSA filing cycle. That's over 5.4 million students who spent hours…

What level of government subsidy of higher education is justified, in what form, and for what reasons? We answer these questions by applying the hypothetical insurance approach, originally developed by Ronald Dworkin in his work on distributive justice. On this approach, when asking how to fund and deliver public services in a particular domain,…

There is a substantial literature that assesses the effects of tax-exporting capacities on the tax structures and aggregate spending levels that state governments choose to implement, but no work exists that isolates the effects of state tax exporting on higher education spending. Using state-level data for 1989, 1995, 2002, and 2007, we estimate…

This study examines the effect of state need-based financial aid on crucial student outcome measures at 4-year institutions. In particular, I seek to analyze differential effects across income groups. To account for potential endogeneity bias and the nested data structure, this study employs a propensity score matching, multilevel modeling…

Purpose: America's College Promise (ACP) is a legislative initiative introduced by President Obama to increase access to higher education, to build the economy, and to support his earlier American Graduation Initiative. This legislation has the potential to settle among the ranks of the most influential federal higher education aid and access…

In July 2014, the U.S. Department of Education announced a new round of experimental sites focusing on competency-based education. Capella University was selected to participate in three of the Department of Education's competency-based education (CBE) experiments and began by implementing the prior learning assessment experiment, which allows…

This Policy Analysis provides legislative examples and an overview of financial aid policies, requirements and programs, with a focus on adult students.

There is a looming threat to the economic vitality of the organizational community of intentionally Christian colleges and universities, relevant to the use of Title IV funds. Within the framework of organizational ecology, this qualitative descriptive study investigated and summarized perceptions of the leadership from sample ABHE Bible colleges…

Only 37 percent of college students fit the stereotype of a recent high school graduate who attends a four-year institution directly after high school. In reality, the average college student is older, has more work and family obligations, and often attends part time. Unfortunately, financial aid, public benefit, and higher education policies…