States are coordinating with two-year institutions on workforce programming for unemployed or underemployed residents. Reskilling residents is especially vital for states that endured historic unemployment rates as a result of COVID-19-related layoffs. Nationally, the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) is making…

Due to the impact of COVID-19, current and incoming students will be facing unprecedented struggles when starting the new academic year -- and, likely, for years to come -- and many students will need significant additional support to pay for college. It is critical to protect and strengthen the Pell Grant program to reduce students' need to…

College affordability is a significant factor in student access, retention, and completion. Tuition and fee rates are a major component of affordability, as is the availability of financial aid programs from federal, state, institutional and private sources. Strategically designed approaches to college affordability can better assist families in…

As our country is on the brink of a new presidential administration and new Congress, amid a global pandemic, the importance of investing in and strengthening our nation's postsecondary education system has never been more important. Concerns over college access, affordability, and transparency are colliding with the growing demand in the…

The COVID-19 crisis has all but upended higher education's business model, given the high susceptibility of college campuses to viral outbreaks. Since a vaccine will likely not be available until 2021, universities could be facing up to three consecutive semesters of remote learning and reduced revenue. Going forward, more students may choose to…

The last comprehensive reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) occurred in 2008, and the law has been overdue for another reauthorization for nearly a decade. The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) has worked on reauthorization for nearly a decade. In this report, NASFAA updates its recommendations to…

In spring 2020, New America and the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) partnered on a year-long research project to understand the effect of the confluence of the pandemic, economic crisis, and racial reckoning on America's colleges and universities. We interviewed over 100 college leaders from across higher education…

The Federal Student Aid's (FSA's) Five-Year Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2020-24 (Five-Year Plan) establishes ambitious goals and objectives to ensure that FSA continues to provide access to higher education regardless of one's past educational experiences or socioeconomic status. This Five-Year Plan was informed by public comments; focus…

The State of Student Aid and Higher Education in Texas (SOSA) annual report from Trellis Research provides information helpful in informing policy and programs for higher education student financial aid. The report serves as a reference for colleges, universities, and policymakers, and provides a comparison of Texas state and federal student aid…

The "State of Student Aid and Higher Education in Texas" ("SOSA") annual report from Trellis Research provides information helpful in informing policy and programs for higher education student financial aid. The report serves as a reference for colleges, universities, and policymakers, and provides a comparison of Texas state…

This Summary highlights the findings from the First Look full report. The findings in this report provide the first national estimates of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on postsecondary students. Researchers have previously collected and reported data at institution, state, and international levels (Aristovnik et al. 2020; Aucejo et al. 2020;…

This First Look report presents basic findings about undergraduate student experiences during COVID-19 in spring 2020. These findings are based on preliminary data from the 2019-20 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:20), a national survey of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled any time between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020,…

The purpose of the United States Department of Education's (Department) fiscal year (FY) 2020 "Agency Financial Report" (AFR) is to inform Congress, the President, other external stakeholders, and the American people on how the Department used the federal resources entrusted to it to advance the mission of the Department to promote…

This is an update to the report "Deeper in Debt: Women and Student Loans." Americans today carry $1.54 trillion in student loan debt. That number has more than doubled over the last decade--increasing at nearly six times the rate of inflation. Women are particularly burdened, holding nearly two-thirds of all outstanding loans--around…