Purpose: The key purpose of this study is to systematically examine the landscape of education research funded by the National Plan of Educational Research Funding (NPERF) in China. The study aims to: (1) identify the thematic focus areas that reflect the national education agenda, (2) analyze the general funding patterns of education research…

The provision of support to subsidise childcare has been a salient policy topic in recent years. In 2023, the Conservative Government announced an expansion of support for workers, offering 15 free hours a week for two-year-olds. From September 2024, this expands to babies from nine months old, rising to 30 free hours of support from September…

This paper evaluates economies of scale and scope, and the merger effect among national universities in Japan. We apply SUR for the total translog cost function in FY2014 and FY2018. The main results are: (i) there exist economies of scale as a whole university; (ii) but there exist no clear economies of scope except for in research; (iii) there…

The United States accomplished an impressive feat in 2020-21: enacting federal policy reforms that halved child poverty and uplifted low-income families amidst a global pandemic. Many of the reforms, though temporary, were unprecedented in U.S. history, representing a sea change in U.S. policy toward young children. This paper first discusses the…

Although obscured in congressional debates over the Biden administration's broader domestic policy agenda, there is bipartisan consensus on the need to do more to ensure clean drinking water in schools and communities. Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published revisions to rules on tightened restrictions on lead…

America's regional comprehensive public institutions of higher education serve a unique role as the portal through which so many of the students and much of the nation's future workforce gain the skills needed to face the economic challenges of the 21st century. In support of the critical role that its members play in the development of their…

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration paused federal student loan payments and interest accruals as a temporary relief measure for borrowers. The pause covered roughly 90 percent of all outstanding student loans, affecting about 38 million individuals, who collectively held a balance of $1.5 trillion. For each of the 17 million…

In August 2022, the U.S Department of Education (ED) announced it would invoke the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 (HEROES Act) to cancel up to $20,000 of federal student loan debts for borrowers who fell below certain income thresholds. The HEROES Act authorizes the Secretary to "waive or modify" statutory…

Recent changes to the federal student loan program will affect student loan borrowing, repayment, and debt. Payments on student loans, which were suspended during the coronavirus pandemic, restarted in October 2023. A new repayment plan introduced in August 2023 will significantly reduce interest accrual and payments for certain borrowers.…

Third-sector community organisations are important sites for learning, especially for the most excluded groups in society. However, scant attention has been paid to the various factors shaping educational provision in community contexts, and how these interact to shape the provision available to marginalised populations. This article presents new…

For nearly 50 years, the Thomas Coram Research Unit (TCRU) has been integral to the IOE (Institute of Education), UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (University College London, UK). This article is written from the perspectives of four researchers who have served in the TCRU's formative years and over its lifetime. It chronicles the TCRU's…

In 2000, federally funded public adult education programs provided basic skills training and English language instruction to over 2.6 million students, or about 1.5% of the U.S. adult population. By 2021, enrollment had plummeted to under 900,000, or less than 0.4% of adults. What explains these declines? This policy brief describes the evolution…

The article is an analysis which focuses on the years after the Great Recession, to show the interplay between federal and state policies. The first year after American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) federal stimulus funds ended, Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, coincided with new federal Pell Grant eligibility restrictions. State appropriations for…

Budgets are moral documents, reflecting our priorities as a nation by deciding where to allocate resources. Congress is targeting cuts and policy changes that limit access to health care, nutrition programs, and basic financial stability for millions of children, including Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the…

In May 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released new guidance on school Medicaid that is a clear victory for school health and student health. It affirms that states have flexibility in their school-based Medicaid program to allow school districts to bill Medicaid for health services delivered to all Medicaid-enrolled…