This report examines state-funded loan forgiveness and conditional grant programs, designed to alleviate student loan debt and address workforce shortages in high-need fields. These service-contingent programs incentivize graduates to work in targeted occupations or underserved areas in exchange for debt relief.

Tuition-free college programs are gaining momentum as policymakers address rising college costs and workforce readiness. Despite their growing adoption, limited research examines how workforce-focused eligibility criteria impact student outcomes beyond enrollment. This pre-registered study employs two within-study quasi-experimental…

The School of Education at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' (UAF) mission is to prepare and retain high quality educators who are prepared to serve children in a state that is geographically, linguistically and culturally diverse. In the K-12 Art Licensure Program, interns are paired with a qualified mentor teacher in an elementary art program…

Occupational therapy students face professional and personal financial literacy challenges. Professionally, financial management has been identified as an instrumental activity of daily living, and recent research has examined how occupational therapy has helped clients with these skills. Personally, occupational therapy students may face higher…

This report analyzes data from 2001-2017 to examine public four-year universities' spending on financial aid dollars--specifically between non-need-based and need-based aid. Our researcher found that these universities have spent nearly $32 billion of their own financial aid dollars on students who lack financial need, according to an analysis New…

Approximately 4.2 million youth and young adults experience homelessness on their own every year. These young people -- referred to as "unaccompanied homeless youth" under federal education law -- face unique barriers to accessing and completing higher education. Unaccompanied homeless youth are not living with, or supported by, a parent…

National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators' (NASFAA's) National Student Aid Profile is an annual publication designed to give a high-level overview of the federal student financial aid programs that provide funding to millions of students each year. This profile includes an overview of: (1) The Federal Pell Grant Program; (2) The…

National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators' (NASFAA's) National Student Aid Profile is an annual publication designed to give a high-level overview of the federal student financial aid programs that provide funding to millions of students each year. This profile includes an overview of: (1) The Federal Pell Grant Program; (2) The…

New Jersey's state grant program delivers the highest level of need-based aid per student in the country. And the state's major grant program, the Tuition Aid Grant (TAG), funds all eligible students, rather than excluding students when the funding runs out. But different levels of grant aid for enrollment in different institutions within sectors,…

White students receive a disproportionate amount of private scholarships compared to their Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) peers (Kantrowitz, 2011). Scholarships provide important financial support for higher education and BIPOC students are more likely to graduate with loan debt compared to their White peers (Mishory et al., 2019).…

The Department of Education's (Education's) Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) initiated the Next Gen program in 2017. Next Gen's purpose was to modernize the systems and processes that students, parents, borrowers, and school partners use to apply for, administer, and/or process federal student aid. This report examines: (1) the status of FSA's…

On August 24, 2022, President Biden announced that his administration would be cancelling $10,000 -- $20,000 of student debt for middle- and lower-income borrowers. Naturally, this announcement has unleashed a wave of follow-up questions among borrowers. This fact sheet is intended to help Californians with student loans navigate the process of…

Students use Veterans Affairs educational benefits infrequently, but they may be of interest to college programs as well as to students who are dependents of veterans. This brief provides basic information and resources that students and programs can use to take advantage of VA funding opportunities. VA funding opportunities vary from state to…

In March 2020, COVID-19 sent shocking changes through California's public higher educational institutions' means and methods of operating, which resulted in sharp drops in revenue along with sudden costs associated with on-campus COVID-19 safety measures and with moving courses and student services online. To make matters worse, state funding also…

One of the important things experts consider when reintegrating veterans back into society is post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The illness mainly affects this population due to their different experiences in their line of duty as soldiers. The enactment of the Post-9/11 Veterans' Educational Assistance Act of 2008 enabled student veterans to…