This collection of best practices shares how 18 higher education institutions across the country have successfully evaluated and redesigned their student financial services programs to improve services to students and their parents and find cost savings for the institution. This volume illustrates how other institutions have successfully tackled…

This report notes that although textbook prices comprise just one component of the price of attending college, such outlays are very frustrating to students and their parents. There has been a groundswell of criticisms against publishers, bookstores, and institutions of higher education that has translated into a mandate for action to make…

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to trace the policy production process of a state agency, the Iowa College Student Aid Commission (Commission), to its function today. This case study relied on a review of federal and state statutes, a news article search, biennium reports of the Commission, and information obtained from the…

The University of North Carolina presents the thirty-ninth annual "Statistical Abstract of Higher Education in North Carolinaa." This abstract covers the breadth of higher education activities in the State in their quantitative aspect, from simple counts of enrollment and degrees conferred to complex analyses of the flow of student…

Due to the increasing complexity in the financial aid process and the movement of available financial aid up the economic scale, poor people and minorities have less access to college, including engineering programs. Some impediments are lack of access to knowledge about college, increasing complexity and up-front costs in the application process…

This report provides data and information relating to the Palmetto Fellows, LIFE, and SC HOPE Scholarships, and the Lottery Tuition Assistance and the SC Need-based Grant Programs. The primary purpose of the Palmetto Fellows Scholarship is to recognize the most academically talented high school seniors in South Carolina and to encourage them to…

This article discusses how federal and state governments can improve student access to private and public higher education institutions. Florida helps to achieve that with a common course-numbering system across community and four-year colleges, which permits students to easily transfer credits. Both the Senate and the House of Delegates in…

This article examines research findings from a study of Latina/o farmworker migrant students who have succeeded in gaining access to a college education at a large southern university. Findings reveal students with a strong Latina/o or bicultural identity who attend college seeking a better life, a career path, or to make their family proud.…

Four articles on higher education issues are presented. In "Parental Loans--An Option Paper," Joseph Froomkin considers the rationale for and against public initiatives for parental loan plans, rationales for institutional parental loans, the demand for loans and probable cost to the government, and options/terms for loans. The…

Tennessee Code Annotated (T.C.A.) Section 49-7-202 (c) (7) requires the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to "submit a biennial report to the governor and the general assembly, commenting upon major developments, trends, new policies, budgets and financial considerations which in the judgment of the commission will be useful to the…

The complex issues of promoting student mental health, privacy and public safety, and the balance among them, weigh on the minds of institutional leaders, educational policymakers, and local, state and federal officials. American campuses have a proud history of intellectual freedom, openness and public accessibility to their communities. However,…

This brochure highlights some of the performance indicators used by Connecticut's public higher education institution to demonstrate accountability. This paper reports on the results of these goals: (1) Student Learning; (2) Learning in K-12; (3) Access and Affordability; (4) Economic Development; (5) Societal Needs; and (6) Resource Efficiency.…

The Illinois Community College System Performance Report for Fiscal Year 2006 provides comparative accountability information built around the priorities of Illinois higher education. The Performance Report is structured around the policy areas in the Board of Higher Education's "Illinois Commitment" and the complementary pledges of the…

Despite the mantra that education is primarily a state responsibility, the federal government is an important and influential player when it comes to providing higher education to the nation's students. The federal government invests roughly $25 billion annually in higher education excluding loans that are ultimately repaid, military benefits that…

There is a world-wide trend to expect individuals to pay more of the cost of their higher education. This is also the case in South Africa since public funding of higher education decreased from 0.86% of GDP in 1986 to only 0.68% in 2005. Higher education institutions were forced to increase tuition fees to compensate for this "loss"…