This study was undertaken to (a) expand scholarship on the impact of undergraduate student loan borrowing level on the timing of initial entry to master's degree or first professional degree programs, and (b) to assist higher education policy makers and practitioners in serving the needs of students as they progress through the various stages…

This issue of "Policy Insights" reviews the results from an annual survey, conducted by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), of tuition and fees at public colleges and universities in the WICHE region (which includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North…

Today's global economy requires a highly skilled labor force that is prepared to compete on the world stage. Studies from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Brookings Institution, and the Conference Board have all identified building and maintaining a highly skilled workforce as a national and local imperative. If America is…

Internet search histories reveal much about the collective concerns and interests of the population. Researchers have demonstrated that searches for terms such as "flu symptoms" predict the onset and prevalence of flu in given geographical areas. Can such an analysis be applied fruitfully to data on searches related to higher education issues? One…

This paper examines the internationalization of postsecondary education in Australia and Canada. The author discusses the contextual similarities and differences between the two countries, the shifting rationale "from aid to trade" behind Australia's internationalization attempts and some of the reasons for Australia's success.…

Education issues were again at the forefront when the leaders of 42 states and the District of Columbia outlined their priorities in their 2014 State of the State addresses. Governors outlined their plans for increasing the quality and availability of education--from preschool through postsecondary--to spur economic growth and enhance the quality…

The 2013 study, "Evaluation of the College Possible Program: Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial", investigated the effect of the "College Possible" program, which is designed to serve low-income high school students by providing SAT/ACT test preparation, financial aid consulting, and college admissions guidance in an…

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the U.S. Department of Education (ED), Institute of Education Sciences, is requesting clearance for data collection materials and procedures for the full-scale collection of the 2012/14 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/14) first follow-up, including the student…

The success of the financial aid initiative is founded on the premise that the truest impact occurs when the greater community owns and develops solutions to issues that impede student progress. Co-authored by two community leaders, Noé Ortiz and Eyra Pérez, the San Antonio experience demonstrates how a community can partner across different…

This report is the first in a series published by the IDEAL (Impact of Distance Education on Adult Learning) project. The IDEAL project ran from October 2013 to September 2015 with financial support from the EU Lifelong Learning Programme. The project aims to: (1) offer insights on the needs of adult learners to both policymakers and distance…

Ten years ago when Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL) published its annual study of freshman motivations, those students were entering college in the shadow of the worst recession since the Great Depression. That report, which examined attitudes of students from 2009, provided insight into their motivations, attitudes, and needs in the midst of a very…

Aware that rising costs could force some community colleges to compromise their long-standing open-door policies, administrators have put in place programs and incentives to offset the higher price of the average community college education. This article features ideas and programs to help struggling community colleges cope with rising costs such…

A college degree is often the key to jumpstarting a career. And data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) consistently show that workers who have a college degree earn more than workers who don't. Not surprisingly, a college education is increasingly popular. For example, according to the U.S. Department of Education National Center for…

The Federal Pell Grant End-of-Year Report presents primary aspects of Federal Pell Grant Program activity for the 2012-2013 award year. This presentation is a compilation of quantitative program data assembled to offer insights into the changes to the Title IV applicant universe and the Federal Pell Grant Program. The Federal Pell Grant…

About 16 percent of veterans use the GI Bill to attend private institutions, roughly the same proportion as students generally. But at the most highly selective colleges, veterans using the Post-9/11 GI Bill barely fill a single classroom--38 at Penn, 22 at Cornell, and at Princeton, just one. The sparse numbers do not go unnoticed, veterans say.…