Obtaining a college degree has long been considered the key to achieving the American Dream, yet for many it has become increasingly difficult to afford college, as funding for federal financial aid has failed to keep pace with rising tuition costs. Prior research in this area has relied heavily on quantitative data analysis, with limited access…

The practice of enrollment management at America's colleges and universities is central to prominent discussions taking place in the public arena about the cost of higher education, the value of a degree, and the role of student loans as tools to finance a college education. While research has explored many variables within the context of using…

The admission process for many postsecondary institutions was not fundamentally designed to promote equity. It was especially not designed to put students' needs at the center of the process, let alone to give them decision-making power in institutional policies and practices. However, the year 2020--punctuated by a racial reckoning and global…

Quality non-degree credentials can lead to good jobs and family-sustaining wages. But not all non-degree credentials lead to good outcomes -- and when they don't, they entrench economic inequalities that impact people of color and women. National Skills Coalition's new report "The Non-Degree Credential Quality Imperative" encourages…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand the differences in motivations, advantages, disadvantages and time of multiple-major awareness among students who pursue multiple majors based on a set of defined characteristics. The student characteristics of interest included race, gender, financial aid status, class standing, transfer status,…

Given growing awareness of the high prevalence of food insecurity among college students, higher education leaders are implementing various food interventions on their campuses. However, there is little research on the efficacy and impact of these initiatives. Using data from a field randomized control trial, we find that a relatively modest…

Higher education is increasingly expensive, and access disparities by race and social class exist. Yet, we lack nuance in the scholarly literature about students' understandings of how they finance their college education. We examine how class-based differences influence how students finance college education. We draw on concepts from economic…

This qualitative study applied the concept of Institutional Neglect to a higher education setting and explored how federal Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements, along with the implementation choices at a public university, facilitated Institutional Neglect for financial aid dependent students, especially Students of Color. This study…

This study explores the experiences of first- and second-year first-generation college students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) related to the college admissions process and finding financial aid. This applies the digital divide to determine whether the three levels of the digital divide still impact first-generation…

Few people in the U.S. have adequate finances for college tuition. Many scholarships, grants, federal loans, and work study funds are connected to students through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The FAFSA also connects students to free tuition in the form of Promise programs offered in some U.S. states. Many students of varying…

Institutional merit-based financial aid awards are widely utilized by enrollment management practitioners to attract and retain students desired by the institution and to increase net tuition revenue. While much research has been conducted on federal need-based aid and statewide merit aid, relatively few studies have been conducted on merit aid…

Despite high prices, many college students do not re-file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or file late, making college less affordable. Low-cost technological interventions delivering personalized information and/or advising may improve refiling and academic outcomes, but questions remain regarding the efficacy of this…

Barriers to accessing financial aid may keep students from matriculating to college. To test whether FAFSA completion is one of these barriers, I utilize a natural experiment brought about by a Louisiana mandate for seniors to file the FAFSA upon graduation from high school. Exploiting pre-treatment FAFSA completion rates as a treatment intensity…

As centres of higher learning, universities have a unique imperative to promote diversity and inclusion on their campuses. While a supportive campus environment promotes students" intercultural competence and a sense of belonging in the university's community, a lack of intentional policy structure impedes campus inclusion. This paper aims to…

This report shares Fall 2024 Student Financial Wellness survey (SFWS) results from more than 53,000 undergraduate students at 104 institutions across the country. It highlights student financial security, basic needs security, academic disruptions, personas as workers or parents, and perceptions of the return on investment. The findings presented…