Study Background: This study delves into the intricacies of policy implementation within diverse institutional contexts, focusing on a federal initiative aimed at increasing low-income students' participation in dual enrollment programs through Pell Grants. Despite the policy's equity-oriented intentions, the actual impact varied significantly…

This study examines U.S. national colleges and universities that have de-emphasized or eliminated ACT and SAT scores and have implemented test-optional policies for undergraduate admissions. The study investigates the test-optional admissions trend and provides a "pre-post" quantitative analysis of test-optional policy effects on the…

One of the original purposes of student financial aid was to ensure fairer access to post-secondary education to those least able to afford it and to those traditionally underrepresented. Various federal and state programs were put in place to achieve this goal, including the federal Pell Grant and state aid programs. Yet policymakers and…

Several wealthy colleges and universities have recently begun removing all loans from low-income students' financial aid packages. This article reports on a study that found that the introduction of "no-loan" policies has positively impacted low-income enrollments, suggesting that this aid strategy may be an effective, though limited,…

The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-152) was put in place to provide for reconciliation pursuant to Title II of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010 (S. Con. Res. 13). The table of contents for this Act is as follows: (1) Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. (A) Title--Coverage,…

A growing body of empirical evidence shows that some financial aid programs increase college enrollment. Puzzlingly, there is little compelling evidence that Pell Grants and Stafford Loans, the primary federal student aid programs, are effective in achieving this goal. In this paper, we provide an in-depth review of this evidence, which taken as a…

This report discusses recent changes in federal aid to postsecondary students enacted by Congress during 1992-93, focusing on the 1992 Amendments to the Higher Education Act and the 1993 Federal Direct Student Loan (DL) Program. The report reviews recent issues surrounding federal aid to postsecondary students, such as program accountability and…

This report discusses the Federal Pell Grant Program, the largest need-related federal postsecondary student grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Education, along with recent changes in the program authorized by the 1992 Amendments to the Higher Education Act. The program is designed to assist student from low-income families who…