Israel has worked to improve the accessibility of its higher education to under-served communities, but lower socioeconomic students, as well as those of certain ethnic backgrounds, remain disadvantaged. Unfortunately, some 'second chance' programs developed to help facilitate admission to higher education have only increased this inequality. The…

Although colleges receive funds from student loans, they have largely escaped accountability for their role when students take on unaffordable student loan debt. One partial exception was a set of regulations called "Gainful Employment" that sought to hold some higher education programs accountable for excessive student loan debt. If a…

Policymakers have expressed increased interest in program-level higher education accountability measures as a supplement to, or in place of, institution-level metrics. But it is unclear what these measures should look like. In this report, we assess the ways program-level data could be developed to facilitate federal accountability. Evidence shows…

The Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) program at Temple University (TU) seeks to guide first-generation, low-income high school students from Philadelphia in their quest to obtain postsecondary STEM degrees that lead to related careers. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of the program by analyzing its students' performance in light of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand how I--and many other students--became first-generation college students (FGCSs) by exploring the rise and retraction of TRIO. Originally, TRIO was a set of three college access and retention programs created in the 1960s to address the needs of a population designated as academically and…

This report focuses on the evaluation of 'Higher education grant system for less privileged students' in Portugal, a grant program for students (coming from families) with low income whose purpose is to respond to the real needs of students, ensuring equity in the allocation of social benefits and, as a consequence, promoting social action that…

This hearing is the third in a series examining critical issues in postsecondary education as the committee looks to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. The topic discussed is of paramount importance and is arguably the bedrock of Federal higher education policy, that is, the Federal financial aid programs and their effectiveness in providing…

This qualitative study explores the perceived impact of college-going capital gained during participation in a college access program. In three, semistructured interviews spanning the first-year college experience, 10 first-year college students who participated in a college access program articulate the value of access programming and also raise…

The Thai higher education sector has expanded quickly during the past decade, making a transition from an elitist to a mass institution. A driving force behind the expansion was believed to be the Student Loan Fund (SLF), introduced in 1996. During the first 10 years of its operation, the SLF has lent to more than 2.6 million students, with the…

"Degrees of Freedom" challenges California to include currently and formerly incarcerated students in the vision set by the state's 1964 Master Plan for Higher Education--a vision of college access for all, for the benefit of the entire state. A college education strengthens economies, changes lives and renews communities, and yet, for…

"Degrees of Freedom" finds that California has not been adequately providing effective college opportunities for criminal justice-involved students, despite the fact that such access will help California build safer and more economically viable communities. This report is part of a larger initiative--Renewing Communities--to expand…

The Tax Relief Act of 1997 created an important tax provision which helped taxpayers offset the cost of higher education. This provision was in the form of education tax credits. Because a tax credit is a dollar for dollar reduction in tax liability, these education credits were designed to reduce the amount of tax due for college students or…

Australia's Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) is an income contingent loan scheme, in which university students pay back part of the costs of their tuition after their post-university income reaches a certain threshold, is an important policy innovation for the financing of higher education. However, its critics claim that HECS increases…

The Yale Tuition Postponement Plan (TPO), an income-contingent loan scheme, is discussed and analysed with reference to the interest rate crisis and default rates. Conclusion: the high default rate is the most dangerous weakness of contingency loans, and this Plan is the only scheme of its kind likely to exist in the near future. (Editor/JT)

In 2006, following the Bologna Process, Turkish Council of Higher Education (YOK) adopted a resolution and changed the curriculum of teacher training higher education institutions. This curriculum revision introduced a new course called "Community Service" which aims to raise students' awareness of their responsibilities as individuals…