Since 1997, education tax benefits have become an increasingly important component of federal higher education policy. For 2023, 11 higher education-related tax benefits are available. After 2025, absent legislative action, this number will effectively increase to 13. Two provisions that are temporarily suspended are scheduled to be…

The rising costs of college attendance and changes in financial aid packages leave students with little option other than to incur a debt of some amount. Unfortunately, colleges often fail to provide adequate financial literacy and student loan information so prospective students planning to attend college can make informed decisions. Student…

In recent decades, there has been a revival of free tuition policies around the world. The goals of these policies are typically to increase access to and success in higher education. Although research on free tuition policies is growing, it is mainly focused on providing empirical evidence of its effects on student outcomes in the U.S. context.…

The coronavirus pandemic brought unprecedented challenges to higher education, intensifying long-standing systemic inequities in college affordability and access. For many students, the total cost of attendance exceeds what they can afford, even with financial aid. The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) provided a crucial financial…

This longitudinal qualitative study delves into the nuanced dynamics of postsecondary education access and choice for 23 rural Black students during their senior year of high school. Employing a multifaceted methodological approach encompassing interviews, visual data, and geospatial data, this research illuminates conditions that influence…

Mature adults comprise more than half of the UK higher education student population, indicating significant growth in participation opportunities. However, this expansion has not necessarily resulted in equal educational quality and outcomes for adult learners. This study addresses the research gap regarding the availability and quality of support…

This paper presents the top state policy priorities for 2025 based on a survey of members of the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO). This paper is not an exhaustive list of state higher education policy issues for 2025 but represents those most likely to affect state higher education communities in the year ahead.…

The State of Student Aid and Higher Education in Texas (SOSA) annual report from Trellis Research provides information helpful in informing policy and programs for higher education student financial aid. The report serves as a reference for colleges, universities, and policymakers, and provides a comparison of Texas state and federal student aid…

The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA; P.L. 89-329, as amended), authorizes a broad array of federal student aid programs that assist students and their families with financing the cost of a postsecondary education, as well as programs that provide federal support to postsecondary institutions of higher education (IHEs). Programs authorized by the…

The expansion of higher education through the privatisation of funding sources raises a question regarding socioeconomic inequality in participation in higher education. To explore mechanisms of educational inequality, this study examines how different indicators of socioeconomic background work together to influence both participation in higher…

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the entry ramp to federal grants and loans that many students depend on to afford college. Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act in 2020 in part to make it easier to apply for federal aid. However, Education's rollout of the new FAFSA has suffered from numerous challenges and delays.…

Pell eligibility for incarcerated people is a great rehabilitative opportunity, but several challenges remain. This article recaps five of the issues identified by the original research articles in this special issue. It also considers how solutions proposed in these studies may be beneficial across a variety of these issues and gathers…

Purpose: The article discusses the development and growth of a newly established Noyce Scholarship Program at a Hispanic Serving Institution and the collaborative efforts of the School of Education (SOE) and its partners during the recruitment and retention process. Design/methodology/approach: The author will explore and answer questions: (1)…

Higher education, like most charitable organizations, is dependent on alumni funding as donors pour a tremendous amount of dollars into these organizations. However, the nature of donor involvement in higher education institutions has evolved over the last four centuries. The generational change of the donor base from the Boomers to the…

Government-backed student loans are not a panacea for educational inequality or social ills. By examining student loans as a means of social control, Bourdieu's concept of symbolic violence can provide novel ways to encapsulate debt-response patterns across cultures and geographies. This gentle, invisible violence creeps in via misrecognition, a…