In 2021-22, Texas implemented a policy requiring all public high school seniors to complete a financial aid application. This paper examines the early impacts of this requirement on Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion rates and college enrollment using a difference-in-differences model. First, using a sample of high schools…

Undocumented immigrants face learning, compliance, and psychological costs when confronting in-state resident tuition (ISRT) policy implementation. Building on administrative burdens scholarship and using qualitative data from 19 semi-structured interviews with undocumented youth immigrants, this article examines administrative burdens that may…

Universal Free Application for Financial Student Aid (FAFSA) policies are being implemented in states as a way to eliminate financial barriers to college enrollment and completion for underrepresented student groups. High school counselors play a critical role in helping students complete this graduation requirement. Texas adopted a universal…

The transition from high school to postsecondary education is one of the most important points in a student's educational journey. Yet, as students attempt to navigate the many steps involved in accessing postsecondary education, it is also a juncture where students are most at risk of falling off track. The responses to the COVID-19 pandemic --…

Although many programs remotely disseminate information to students about the college application process, there is little evidence as to how students experience these programs. This paper examines a large-scale remote counseling program in which college counselors initiated interactions with 15,000 high school seniors via text message to support…

Loan borrowing among community college students has increased in recent years. This study utilized original survey data to examine this trend from the perspective and firsthand experiences of 107 community college financial aid counselors from three states: California, Florida, and Texas. Findings indicate these counselors are concerned with the…

Like the federal Pell Grant program, need-based state grant programs are designed to increase access to higher education among low- and moderate-income students. A growing body of research indicates that adequate funding is a necessary but not sufficient condition for successfully achieving this goal. Aid programs that are easy to understand and…

In December 2012, the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation (TG) released a report outlining an unexpected set of conclusions. Citing data from the U.S. Department of Education's Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) study, the report found that, among students who earned bachelor's degrees during the 2007-2008 academic year (AY) and borrowed…

Completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the first and most important step for students to receive their portion of the billions of grant aid dollars disbursed in federal student financial aid; however, every year many low income and community college students fail to complete the FAFSA. Over the past twenty years,…

The College Access Challenge Grant (CACG) Program is a federal formula grant designed to foster partnerships among federal, state, and local governments and philanthropic entities to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. Created by the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, the…

In the next decade, more than half of all new American jobs will require some postsecondary education, yet the current college attainment rate for the nation is 39 percent. The challenges appear well before students begin college: one in four public high school students fails to graduate on time, and of those who graduate, one-third need remedial…

In 1988, the Texas student aid community addressed the issue of defaults in the guaranteed student loan program, creating a strategic default initiative. In June 1998, this same group of student aid officials met again to examine the current status of defaults and to share ideas on ways to prevent defaults. This report was intended as a resource…

The fourth revised edition of the migrant counselor's handbook emphasizes administration of the migrant counselor's duties, knowledge of procedures, and functional aids to carrying out work with migrant students. Part I provides definitions, explains counselor responsibilities and procedures, and includes in-state and out-of-state programs and…

Student financial aid is a major education industry. Three papers by educational professionals are presented as points of comparison. "Student Financial Aid Policies and Programs in Texas and California: A Comparison" (Stephen Janes) states that Texas and California have much in common; demographics in the two states are not radically…

During academic year (AY) 1996-97, 83,000 students left Texas postsecondary institutions with $882 million in federally guaranteed loans. This study attempts to analyze the cumulative Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation loan indebtedness of student borrowers who left postsecondary educational institutions from AY 1991 through 1997. The major…