In 2022, New Mexico joined the list of states that adopted a statewide promise program, offering tuition and fee assistance for eligible students to pursue higher education. The New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship (NMOS) differs from existing programs by including part-time and summer enrollment, academic and workforce degrees, and older adult…

The Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship (TELS) program was designed to meet the unique needs of the State of Tennessee, while also incorporating the hallmark elements of existing merit-based aid programs in other states. This manuscript provides a snapshot of TELS recipients and their outcomes, including narrative discussion on the current…

This report examines state-funded loan forgiveness and conditional grant programs, designed to alleviate student loan debt and address workforce shortages in high-need fields. These service-contingent programs incentivize graduates to work in targeted occupations or underserved areas in exchange for debt relief.

State financial aid grant programs are commonly categorized as either need-based, merit-based, or both, but their initial eligibility requirements include many more factors than just financial need and academic merit. A categorization of programs that accounts for all requirements would facilitate a more nuanced and precise understanding of state…

As college promise programs proliferate across the United States with noted intentions to promote access through increased affordability, it is necessary to understand the relationship between these programs and other forms of financial aid, including loans. Using federal, state, and program-level data, we leverage a natural experiment to estimate…

Experts from the RAND Corporation prepared this independent report on New Jersey's Tuition Aid Grant (TAG) program for low-income college students. TAG is the nation's most generous state-funded financial aid program on a per-resident-undergraduate basis. Currently, TAG distributes around $475 million in grants per year, and an award covers about…

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.…

Communities with more college degrees have higher incomes, less reliance on social services, and greater economic growth. To ensure that Michigan's workforce has the skills needed for the modern economy, the state's leaders must build a financial aid system that helps families cover college costs. However, disjointed program designs, maintenance…

This brief communicates findings from Phase 1 of "State Responses to COVID-19 -- Implications for Outcomes-Based Funding and Promise Programs," a 50-state policy scan to determine how Promise Program policies are shifting in response to COVID-19 related budget fluctuations. Conducted between August and December of 2020, this 50-state…

In the latest addition to the National College Attainment Network's (NCAN) state policy resource library, we present a new report about how to simplify state financial aid programs. While maximum award amounts tend to grab headlines, the fine print can make all the difference in whether students can access and retain state aid. Those most impacted…

State financial aid is a critical piece of college affordability for students from low-income backgrounds. Nearly three quarters of all students attend college in their home state - which is typically a requirement for state-based financial aid - and first-generation and students from low-income backgrounds are even more likely than their peers to…

The state of Michigan has set a goal to increase the percentage of residents with a postsecondary degree or credential to 60 percent by 2030. Achieving that goal will require a concerted, strategic, and multipronged effort. Today, less than 50 percent of residents have attained a postsecondary degree or credential. While making college more…

This study employs difference-in-differences estimation to explore the relationship between the implementation of state merit-aid programs and students' participation in study abroad. The relationship between implementation of these financial aid programs and study abroad participation has not been tested explicitly in prior policy or education…

State need-based financial aid programs are a key driver of college access and completion for lower-income students and racially marginalized students in California, most of whom attend public two- and four-year colleges and universities and come from families with annual incomes of less than $40,000. As the state's largest need-based financial…

This paper examines how colleges respond to the introduction of broad merit aid programs. Previous research has emphasized the impact of merit aid on enrollment, student choices, and post-matriculation outcomes. Yet much less is known about how state-implemented merit aid programs affect colleges' financial decisions. To explore impacts, college…