Universities have created more than 14,000 new master's degree programs in the last two decades, and much of this is likely driven by an effort to increase institutional revenues during challenging financial times. But this expansion in graduate education creates a risk that these new programs fail to generate a return on investment to students or…

Background: In recent years, there has been generalized concern in all countries about increasing the younger population's level of financial literacy. However, there is still little evidence on the key factors explaining financial literacy, as the existing literature is inconclusive about this issue. This paper focuses on exploring whether…

The COVID-19 pandemic poses financial challenges for students worldwide, especially for those in higher education where free and universal access is not guaranteed. Students in developed economies, a long-neglected group for pandemic studies, are not exceptions. The motivation of this study is to examine subjective financial well-being of…

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the primary gatekeeper to secure financial aid for college. The federal government instituted two changes to the process in 2017, commonly known as "prior-prior year" FAFSA: (1) an earlier start date that lengthens the filing period and (2) the ability to use completed taxes from…

Fewer young adults believe college is important, only about one-third of the American public has confidence in higher education. A recent study from Pew Research Center revealed that Americans are increasingly concerned about affordability, access, and the overall payoff of a college degree. Meanwhile, technological advances and AI have begun to…

Georgia offers two merit-based scholarships to in-state college students: HOPE Scholarships, which provide partial tuition support, and Zell Miller Scholarships, which provide full tuition support but with stricter eligibility and retention conditions. Studies have examined retention of these scholarships but not other dynamics, including gaining…

When workers hear about a possible promotion, it is common for them to get training, and they can do so through education. However, there is the possibility that the worker needs to receive a salary according to the knowledge acquired in such training. In this study, considering a population of employed workers with incomplete secondary school, we…

Obtaining a college degree is positively correlated with gains in socioeconomic mobility. However, college is expensive. Given the importance of college in increasing social mobility, lawmakers have proposed eliminating student debt. Joe Biden, for example, has incorporated eliminating student debt into his presidential campaign promise. While…

Greater educational attainment is associated with an increase in expected income, lowering of internal discount rates, and improved financial and health literacy. Income transfers have the potential to positively impact educational attainment by either reducing the direct cost of college attendance or by an inducing an income effect that nudges…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational-predictive study was to determine to what extent, if any, instructional costs and student services costs together and separately predict retention rates in the state of Texas in private postsecondary institutions. Based on Tinto's theory of institutional departure, the predictor variables were…

Meeting today's prospective college students where they are is key to staying ahead of current enrollment challenges. Understanding which messages resonate with which students and at certain parts of the enrollment funnel helps to ensure institutions are getting the right message, to the right student, at the right time in their journey. By…

Compared to previous generations, U.S. college students must increasingly rely on non-government sources of money to pay for college. Yet, paying for college looks markedly different for students from marginalized communities, given historical exclusion and inequitable access to financial capital. Using data from a longitudinal study of…

Educational practitioners, researchers, and policymakers have focused on increasing community college transfer rates as an equity strategy for improving social and economic mobility among historically underserved populations. While there is a vast amount of research on students who have successfully transferred, there is limited evidence base on…

This article explores major challenges facing students, such as mental health, financial hardship and employability. It suggests that well supported and appropriately funded students' unions can play a vital role in improving the experience of students. Their work can be crucial in ensuring students have influence on university decision making, it…

This paper studies the causal impacts of public universities on the outcomes of their marginally admitted students. I use administrative admission records spanning all 35 public universities in Texas, which collectively enroll 10 percent of American public university students, to systematically identify and employ decentralized cutoffs in SAT/ACT…