Encouraging adults who have started but not yet earned a degree or certificate to return to college is an enrollment strategy that is growing in interest across diverse state and institutional contexts. In an effort to improve both students' and administrators' experiences with adult learner engagement initiatives, administrative holds, and past…

This year, The Institute for College Access & Success is focused on understanding how specific communities in Michigan experience the K-12 to higher education to workforce pipeline to help advocates and policymakers better support their specific needs. This fact sheet focuses on how Michigan's Hispanic/Latino students and families, members of…

Conducted annually since 1994, the "NACUBO Tuition Discounting Study" (TDS) measures the tuition discount rates and other indicators of institutional grant awards to first-time, full-time undergraduates and all undergraduates who attend independent higher education institutions. The TDS is based on institutional funding for scholarships,…

Families may choose to save for college or elementary and secondary education expenses using tax-advantaged qualified tuition programs (QTPs), also known as 529 plans. This report provides an overview of the mechanics of 529 plans and examines the specific tax advantages of these plans. Specifically, this report is structured to first compare…

Each year, millions of students access financial aid to attend postsecondary programs by completing the Free Application for Federal Financial Aid (FAFSA). Completing a FAFSA determines students' eligibility for Pell grants, federal work-study, and federal loans and thus smooths more students' paths to attaining bachelor's and associate degree…

This paper studies families' capacity to pay for college in the United States, focusing on changes over time and differences by race and socioeconomic status. I use data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) to document changes over time in the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid…

Each year as tuition costs increase, more students rely on financial aid to attend institutions of higher education. Financial aid packages, which are created to encourage individual investments in education, consist of a variety of types of funding assistance and aid packages, and are highly tailored to individual students. In general, financial…

To better understand how transportation costs affect college persistence, this study examined the experiences of community college students enrolled at two City University of New York (CUNY) community colleges--Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) and Queensborough Community College (QCC). Treatment students were randomly assigned to…

As student debt continues to climb, outstripping all other forms of personal debt and topping off at $1.7 trillion nationally, previous research has shown that the amount of anticipated debt has an impact on graduate student career choices. However, there is a dearth of information that shows if student debt is impacting student's choices before…

International students pursuing higher education in the United States incur additional expenses compared to domestic students by spending on foreign credential evaluations and visa applications. These costs are usually not reflected in program fee structures, are non-refundable, and are not covered by financial aid, creating significant, and often…

The Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) is New York's primary aid program, accounting for 80 percent of state awards to students attending public, private nonprofit, and for-profit higher education institutions in the state. TAP is available to state residents attending two-year or four-year degree granting programs, as well as students attending…

The challenges facing higher education institutions across this country continue to increase, becoming more and more complex with each passing semester. Higher education administrators and those who aspire to be such must constantly stay abreast of all potential adverse issues, but especially those that affect the educational success of our…

Ensuring postsecondary education is affordable for Kentuckians is a top priority of the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) and higher education institutions. Maintaining access to life-changing postsecondary credentials benefits both individuals and the state alike. This inaugural report on undergraduate student debt demonstrates that…

Providing educational resources without burdening students financially is considered higher education's moral and sensible mission (Farrow, 2016). The financial burden of one or multiple textbooks can produce a great deal of stress on students, especially if the textbooks do not fulfill students' needs in satisfying learning objectives. We attempt…

In 2016, the North Carolina legislature implemented the North Carolina Fixed Tuition Program. This policy ensures that, once enrolled, an undergraduate student's tuition rate at any of the state's four-year public colleges will not increase for eight consecutive semesters of enrollment. While touted as an effort to increase affordability by…