At a time when Wisconsin faces severe workforce shortages in several key sectors and demand for skilled workers has skyrocketed, enrollment in the state's colleges and universities has generally been declining even faster than the national trend. Enrollments in Wisconsin across all public and private institutions were falling even prior to the…

This hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions focuses on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act through improving college affordability. The following committee members presented opening statements: (1) Honorable Lamar Alexander, Chairman, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; and (2) Honorable Patty…

States and the federal government have long provided substantial financial support for higher education, but in recent years, their respective levels of contribution have shifted significantly. Given the essential role that government funding plays in higher education access and operations, policymakers across the nation frequently face difficult…

Financial aid is an ever-growing topic of interest to researchers as well as policymakers in understanding the impact and relationship to student success. Aid comes in many forms, from merit-based or need-based scholarships and grants, loans, tuition waivers, and other. Federal and state aid programs alike are typically designed to assist students…

The designation "low income" is often assigned to students who are Federal Pell Grant eligible; however, family incomes for these recipients range from $0 to as high as $60,000 (Baum & Payea, 2011). Over 93% of all zero expected family contribution (EFC) students have a family income of $30,000 or less and constituted 67.4% of all…

For more than a decade, college prices have been rising consistently and have continued to rise at a gradual pace after the Stafford loan limit increases were enacted in 2008 and 2009. However, it is difficult to determine if a direct relationship exists between increases in college prices and the Stafford loan limit increases because of the…

This brief report presents selected findings about student financial aid during the 2011-12 academic year. These findings are based on data from the 2011-12 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:12), a nationally representative sample survey of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled any time between July 1, 2011, and June 30, 2012,…

This report discusses the current state of higher education, with a brief high-level overview of the market and a more detailed discussion and analysis of the financial aid system. It also discusses the important changes President Obama has made to make higher education more accessible and affordable. The key findings are: (1) The economic returns…

Using a longitudinal, state-wide dataset, this study assessed the effect of financial aid on the persistence of full-time students in associate's degree programs at the Oklahoma community colleges. Three financial-aid sources were examined: the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (OHLAP), Pell grants, and Stafford loans. Results indicate that…

The mission of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) is to provide higher education services to the citizens of the State at an excellent level of quality consistent with the state's resources. The information in this report is provided by the financial aid officers at each NSHE institution. Each fall, institutions submit a detailed…

This publication is intended as a reference tool for secondary school counselors to help prospective postsecondary students with their financial aid application process. A section on student financial aid discusses how to apply for aid, when to apply, and how the process proceeds. This section covers the federal government application form, Free…

This almanac contains 20 tables on Oregon higher education financial aid developed with data that the Oregon State Scholarship Commission collected when it surveyed 71 institutions in the state in October, 1993. Other sources of information include files of the Oregon Federal Family Education Loan program, Federal Department of Education summaries…

This publication reports on the activities of the Oregon State Scholarship Commission (OSSC) and the status of the programs it oversees during the two-year period from July 1, 1993 through June 30, 1995. A brief report from the executive director reviews the period's substantial reductions in state funds and rapid growth in private award programs.…

This report presents annual data on the amount of financial assistance grants, loans, and work-study available to postsecondary students. Text and 14 tables and figures explain and display a variety of data for the period 1987-88 through 1997-98, covering virtually all federal aid and most of the state and institutional assistance programs…

This report provides statistics on student aid in the 1980s and 1990s, complementing the publication, "Trends in Student Aid: 1963 to 1983." It revises figures presented earlier for the 1980s and gives estimates for academic year 1990-91. Tables 1 to 8 provide a variety of statistics on student aid, family income, and college costs for…