The authors find that college students are borrowing more and taking on riskier forms of debt than ever before. If tuition increases continue to grow faster than inflation and family income and grant aid fails to keep pace, the authors project that more students will be left with few choices beyond student loans--and, increasingly, private loans.…

The Pathways to Advancement initiative was launched by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) to help governors and their policy advisors examine options and develop strategies for expanding working adults' access to and completion of postsecondary education. In September 2003, the NGA Center issued a request for…

H.R. 3221 would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965, which authorizes most federal postsecondary education programs. It would prohibit new federally guaranteed loans from being made under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program and would increase direct spending for the Federal Pell Grant Program and other programs. The elimination of…

In fiscal year 2008, the Department of Education oversaw the distribution of approximately $96 billion in federal student financial aid, including $14.6 billion in Pell Grants to low- and middle-income students, to help students and their families pay for higher-education expenses. Much of this aid was distributed based on a formula specified in…

Each year, more than 16 million college students and their families complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). They spend hours answering needlessly complicated and intrusive questions that undermine the fundamental goal of student aid: to help more students attend and graduate from college. In this report the Council of…

Presented herein is a statement of George A. Scott, Director Education, Workforce, and Income Security. The author discusses the extent to which the Department of Education's policies and procedures for monitoring eligibility requirements for federal aid at proprietary schools protect students and the investment of Title IV funds. This testimony…

Study after study demonstrates that low-income students are severely underrepresented in higher education. In fact, the attendance rate of low-income students appears to be declining rather than growing. Individual Development Accounts or IDAs used for postsecondary education can help address the problem. With an IDA, youth can afford to enroll in…

The purpose of this document is to examine the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC)'s Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP) and analyse the advantages and disadvantages of both the existing system of program delivery and a trio of alternative delivery mechanisms. It does not issue any recommendation with respect to a…

The fundraising landscape has been blistered by stock-market meltdowns and a financial sector that has repeatedly erupted in flames. In turn, the environment for development has turned icy, cooled by frozen credit markets and chilly consumer confidence. It is ragged, unstable terrain. Fundraisers, the ground moving beneath them, are unsure of…

High school students seeking to complete a postsecondary degree must properly prepare themselves academically and financially in order to qualify and pay for college. With the use of data, school counselors can target high-achieving students from diverse backgrounds to provide equitable opportunities for all students. In this article, a school…

When the University of Chicago's Consortium on Chicago School Research published "From High School to the Future: Potholes on the Road to College" in March 2008, it wasn't expecting to focus on the major problems faced by Latino students in applying to, enrolling in, and attending college. But as its research expanded, it was clear that…

This study examined 12 predictors for transfer from the community college to a four-year institution for students with disabilities. Pre-existing data from the California Community College Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) matched with data from the National Student Clearinghouse, running from the academic year 1995-1996 until 2006-2007, were used. This…

In January 2009, in the last week of the Bush Administration, the U.S. Department of Education (ED), upon orders from the departing political appointee staff, published the final report in a long running National Evaluation of Upward Bound (UB). The study was conducted by the contractor, Mathematica Policy Research. After more than a year in…

The recent growth in the racial and cultural heterogeneity of college students in the United States has increased the demand for higher educational policies that will accommodate the needs of an increasingly diverse collective student body (Kao & Thompson, 2003). Traditionally, underrepresented minority students (i.e., African American,…

Congress charged the Advisory Committee in the "Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008" with monitoring and reporting on the condition of college access and persistence for low- and moderate-income students. The law requires provision of analyses and policy recommendations regarding the adequacy of grant aid from all sources--federal, state, and…