With pandemic stimulus funding subsiding, efforts to boost achievement, stem absenteeism, and narrow outcome gaps in California's TK-12 public school system will rely on the level and sustainability of ongoing state and local dollars. First implemented over 10 years ago, California's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) provides additional funding…

Is graduate school worth it? Graduate degrees--including master's, professional, and doctoral degrees--can help individuals boost their earnings and improve career advancement opportunities. But they can also be high-risk investments given rising costs, student debt, and the current lack of transparency about program outcomes. "Graduate…

Financial aid opens the door to a college degree and makes higher education a real possibility for students from all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Student knowledge about financial aid availability and application processes, however, varies substantially by race, ethnicity, and income. Despite belonging to families with lower-than-average family…

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…

Although the nature of higher education and the students we serve have drastically changed since the passage of the 1965 Higher Education Act, little has changed regarding the award and disbursement of financial aid. In 1965, the typical college student was likely between 18 and 21 years old, living on campus, and a full-time student. In contrast,…

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…

"Casualties of College Debt" uses the latest federal data on delinquency and default to better understand who student loan defaulters are, explores key themes of who defaults and why that emerged across over 20 in-depth conversations with a diverse group of experts, and lifts up the lived experience of default through voices of borrowers…

This Policy Snapshot explores need-based financial aid programs across the country and highlights state program examples, grant and scholarship expenditure amounts, and recent legislative activity.

Public flagship universities are often the most selective, rigorous, and well-resourced public schools in each state, and their important status and name recognition play an important role in raising the college-going aspirations of state residents. Flagships are well-positioned to promote social and economic mobility. However, increasingly high…

As the coronavirus pandemic ravaged communities, cities, and countries in 2020, colleges and universities faced a unique emergency. Millions of students were struggling to meet their basic needs, and institutional emergency aid funds were rapidly running out. For the first time in history, Congress responded by authorizing billions of dollars in…

Competency-based education is increasingly popular because of the flexibility it provides for students seeking a postsecondary credential. Current federal student aid, however, is geared toward supporting students in traditional, time-based degree programs. This paper discusses why current approaches to federal student aid are not supportive of…

College attendance is a risky investment. But students may not recognize when they are at risk for failure, and financial aid introduces the possibility for moral hazard. Academic performance standards can serve three roles in this context: signaling expectations for success, providing incentives for increased student effort, and limiting…

"Aiding Success: The Role of Federal and State Financial Aid in Supporting California Community College Students" documents the variation in student graduation and transfer rates by students' financial situation. The authors of "Aiding Success" analyzed detailed financial aid and student success data from the California…

The limited availability of college counseling for many students, especially those from low-income families, means that advising and ready assistance with each stage of the college search and application process is lacking. The research summarized in this brief indicates that the deficiencies in the quality and quantity of college counseling…

The 2014 study, Freshman Year Financial Aid Nudges: An Experiment to Increase FAFSA Renewal and College Persistence, measured the impact of sending text message reminders regarding annual Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) renewal to first-year college students who were already receiving financial aid. The study sample included 808…