The entrepreneurial admission sector is comprised of commercial enterprises aimed at helping students increase their odds of admission, as well as providing general college information to the masses. As for-profit entities, a goal of companies in this sector is to maximize revenue and profit. Existing research identifies four main activities as…

This report presents a localized perspective on Tennessee higher education for the year 2009, including: (1) county demographic and economic data; (2) information on public and private colleges and universities located in the county; and (4) number of county residents participating in the state's primary need-based and merit-based financial aid…

The purpose of this report was to summarize the impact the economic recession had on funding, access, and overall support for U. S. community colleges in 2008. Mortgage foreclosures, reduction in stock values, and an enormous credit crunch were headlines of economic news in the final quarter of 2007 and throughout 2008. A survey conducted by the…

The author began studying undocumented students in the spring of 2006 to better understand the educational experiences of those who wanted to go to college or who were already in college. He invited three of his CGU (Claremont Graduate University) students--Richard Cortes, Heidi Coronado, and Karina Ramos--to join his research team. To better…

Making Pell Grants an entitlement and tying the maximum award to a measure of inflation, as President Obama has proposed, would probably yield larger awards and stop the cycle of shortfalls that have plagued the program. The president's plan, which would index the maximum award to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus one percentage point, probably…

April is decision month. And as college-bound seniors weigh admissions and financial-aid offers, the families of about 1,800 students admitted to New York University have gotten an unusual call. For the first time, the university is systematically contacting families with limited experience navigating the financial-aid process to talk about the…

This study considers 4 years of national College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) data from programs located across the United States. Findings reveal that 81% of the migrant college students served by CAMP continue to study a 2nd year. Researchers found that the success of high-achieving programs can overshadow less effective ones and, thus,…

When the new GI Bill was signed into law last summer, advocates said its education benefits would significantly expand veterans' higher-education options. Beneficiaries would receive substantially more money than they did under older programs, enough to pay for the most expensive public institution in their state instead of only covering…

College--whether with a vocational or liberal-arts bent--gives students an opportunity to test areas of interest, to follow their passions, or perhaps to find passions that they didn't know they had. The question for the nation is how to provide college "opportunity" more broadly. That means a system that makes it possible for students--rich or…

Under current law, students pursuing an undergraduate degree in the United States are considered financially independent (from their parents) for the purposes of financial aid if, among other conditions, they are 24 years of age or older. When students' parents are able to pay, considering them financially independent may result in more generous…

Fluctuations in tuition setting, vacillating state appropriations, and small state financial aid programs were incapable of providing enough consistency for Virginian undergraduates to make a reliable decision to enroll. Similarly, this inconsistency created unpredictability for students to access to higher education in Virginia. Therefore, the…

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between college choice and freshman retention. Norfolk State University was the institutional setting for this study. Norfolk State University was chosen because the University used enrollment management as an organizational and conceptual framework to guide its related interests in…

On May 14, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger released the May Revision to the proposed budget for the current year (2009-10) and budget year (2010-11). State finances have continued a three-year decline, with anticipated General Fund spending of $83 billion, their lowest in six years. To address the budget shortfall, the Governor proposes major…

Although "access" to higher education has increased substantially over the past forty years, student "success" in college--as measured by persistence and degree attainment--has not improved at all. Thomas Brock reviews systematic research findings on the effectiveness of various interventions designed to help at-risk students remain in college.…

Passage of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) represented a landmark effort by the federal government to minimize the cost of college as a barrier to postsecondary access for low-income students and their families. Since then, a myriad of financial aid programs have been designed to equalize educational opportunity. Most recently, the Health…