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…

Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA; P.L. 89-329, as amended) authorizes the primary sources of federal aid to support postsecondary education students. Title IV programs made over $118 billion in aid available to postsecondary students in FY2020 through Direct Loans and other forms of aid, including $27 billion in Pell Grants. The…

The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA; P.L. 89-329, as amended), authorizes numerous federal aid programs that provide support to both individuals pursuing a postsecondary education and institutions of higher education (IHEs). The FAFSA Simplification Act (FSA; Title VII, Division FF of P.L. 116-260) makes significant changes to the underlying…

Increasingly, people are looking for education and training options that are more affordable, flexible, can quickly open doors to good jobs, and--ideally--pave the way for further educational attainment. Businesses also want to hire workers with the skills needed for jobs in growing industries. Non-degree credentials (NDCs) can often meet these…

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) unlocks access to federal financial aid programs and anywhere from 17 million to 21 million postsecondary students complete the FAFSA annually. A significant portion of these students cannot receive their aid without completing an additional, lengthy audit-like process called verification to…

The new Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE), due to start in 2025, is a major and positive improvement to how the student support system in England enables lifelong participation in higher education. It also has the prospect of commanding cross-party support, at least in broad design if not in the detail. However, in this timely Policy Note, Rose…

The Pell Grant is the cornerstone of the federal student aid programs, providing need-based grant aid to the country's lowest-income postsecondary students. Pell Grants have failed for decades to keep pace with increased college costs and inflation. Doubling the maximum Pell Grant to $13,000 will effectively recalibrate the grant and restore its…

Comprehensive Transition & Postsecondary Programs (CTPs) were created by the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA, 2008). They support students with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) who want to continue academic, career, or technical instruction in higher education to better prepare for competitive integrated employment and independent living.…

This document is part of the "50-State Comparison: Postsecondary Governance Structures," which provides a comprehensive summary of the various entities that make up postsecondary governance ecosystems in each state and the District of Columbia. This document provides an overview of each state's postsecondary governance structures. [View…

Washington has some of the strongest state financial aid programs in the country. These programs support a diverse set of educational opportunities--from certificate programs to associate and bachelor's degrees. They are available to help cover the costs of tuition for many low- and middle-income students. Washington's commitment to helping…

From March 2020 through March 2021, three laws providing federal funding for elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education were enacted in response to the national emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic declared by President Trump on March 13, 2020. The second of these laws provided a higher amount of funding than the first, and the third…

This is the executive summary for the study "How They Pay: The Voices of Adult Learners on College Affordability, and How Institutions are Responding." The study is based on data from a national survey of 996 adult learners, in-depth interviews with 47 adults from 14 institutions, and interviews with financial aid personnel from six of…

The nine appendices in this publication accompany the full report, "High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) Postsecondary Education Transcript Study and Student Financial Aid Records Collection. Data File Documentation. NCES 2020-004" (ED607366). They include: (1) Glossary of Terms; (2) Student Financial Aid Records Instrument…

This report summarizes FAFSA and ApplyTexas submissions by AISD seniors in 2019. FAFSA is an application to determine eligibility for financial aid whereas Apply Texas applications allow students to apply to postsecondary institutions in the state.

This article highlights learning lessons and best practices from the California Campus Catalyst Fund (CCCF), a unique three-year, $14M grant and technical assistance initiative, which supports programs for undocumented students at 32 campuses within each of the public higher education segments in California (University of California, California…