Two years into its new life as a private company, the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae) is both creating a division to handle the processing and clerical duties of college financial aid offices and backing away from a short-lived move into the business of underwriting college bonds. The agency also originates government-subsidized…

A study of the impact of the Hope Scholarship, a federal program that gives families of college students a tax benefit, has had in Georgia found that the college attendance rate has increased. However, the gap between blacks and whites and between those from high- and low-income families has widened. (JOW)

A study assessed borrowing patterns of 3,495 indebted medical students at Thomas Jefferson University (Pennsylvania) in relation to changes in cost of education, parents' income, availability of grant funding, legislative changes to loan eligibility criteria, and average interest rates on federal unsubsidized loans. Results show students borrow…

Explores the history and current status of college admission and develops an approach to resolve ethical problems. Applies this approach to the need-blind versus aid-blind controversy, an admission situation rooted in the counseling versus recruitment dilemma. (MKA)

Compares first-year undergraduates at 4-year institutions by the sticker price levels they faced using data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey of the National Center for Education Statistics. Discusses student characteristics, finances, reasons for attendance, academic differences, satisfaction, and persistence. (SLD)

Reports on educational activities in the Scottish Parliament for Fall-Winter 2000-01. Discusses efforts to prevent a recurrence of the Scottish Qualifications Authority's failure to deliver timely and accurate examination results; recommendations to increase student financial support for further and higher education and thereby widen access; and…

Examined effects of financial aid on within-year persistence by African Americans, Hispanics, and Whites enrolled in Indiana public higher education. Found that financial aid recipients persisted better than or as well as non-recipients within each racial/ethnic group. College grades and other college experience variables also had a substantial…

Contrasts the reactions of Swarthmore College and Pennsylvania State University as the endowments at both institutions topped the billion dollar mark in 2000. Swarthmore uses its endowment to assure that financial need is never considered in admissions decisions, but does not touch the principal. At Pennsylvania State, tuition is more affordable,…

Describes the development and testing of a socioeconomic model that allows any institution to study student persistence in pursuing an education using existing data sources. Indicates how financial aid, student affairs, academic, and financial administrators can use the model for carrying out sophisticated price response research to plan…

Argues that in light of recent legal actions, colleges and universities would be wise to review their use of racial preferences in awarding financial aid. Federal and state legislation, court litigation, and federal regulations are reviewed, and arguments for and against minority scholarships are outlined. Ways in which institutions can justify…

This case study examined the effects of student financial aid on within-year persistence at an urban public university in the 1990s. Results indicated that aid packages remained adequate at this university. It appeared that state and institutional grants played an increasingly important role in maintaining affordability in this new context of…

Analyzed the effects of family income and financial aid on college students' persistence at Iona College, New York. Institutional data on family demographics, academic achievement, and financial variables indicated that financial aid did not significantly affect persistence. Although students from families with greater incomes tended to persist,…

Identified and analyzed the college participation decisions of 13,000 eligible non-recipients of Tennessee state financial aid in fall 1999. Found that 81 percent were enrolled in higher education, but the negative effects of non-receipt of state aid and preexisting economic conditions were found in patterns of institution selection and in…

Enhanced magnetic strip cards and "smart cards" offer varied service options to college students. Enhanced magnetic strip cards serve as cash cards and provide access to services. Smart cards, which resemble credit cards but contain a microchip, can be used as phone cards, bus passes, library cards, admission tickets, point-of-sale debit…

A study examined the extent to which receipt of financial aid influences the price level of the college or university attended, after controlling for academic ability, educational aspiration, socioeconomic status, distance from home, gender, and race. Data were drawn from a follow-up to the Beginning Postsecondary Student Survey of 1989-90…