Tuition-free college programs are gaining momentum as policymakers address rising college costs and workforce readiness. Despite their growing adoption, limited research examines how workforce-focused eligibility criteria impact student outcomes beyond enrollment. This pre-registered study employs two within-study quasi-experimental…

More than half of states have implemented tuition-free college policies aimed at reducing attendance costs and incentivizing enrollment. We review the academic literature on the design features and impacts of these tuition-free policies, and we analyze an initiative Virginia implemented in 2021 called Get a Skill, Get a Job, Get Ahead (G3), which…

Each year, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) provides a tuition and fees report based on charges approved by boards of visitors at Virginia public institutions. The report includes a list of tuition and fee charges to in-state and out-of-state students and for undergraduate and graduate programs. It also provides trends…

To provide more affordable course content to our students and faculty, local data on how students perceive textbook expenses and how the costs impact student success would be necessary in order to advocate to faculty and other stakeholders. This survey, conducted at a mid-sized research public institution, aims to explore student perceptions of…

The Commonwealth of Virginia provides more than $220 million annually to fund the Commonwealth Award and Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program (VGAP). These two need-based financial aid programs address affordability and access for in-state undergraduates attending public institutions. As higher education costs continue to increase and the…

Higher education transforms learners, cultivates talent and offers pathways to opportunity. Education is the rising tide that should lift all boats, and "Pathways to Opportunity: The Virginia Plan for Higher Education" charts the course for doing so. The Plan reflects those near- and longer-term issues that significantly impact the…

The Pell Grant is the foundational need-based student aid program in the United States, providing students of lower socio-economic status a pathway to afford college costs and educational expenses. Currently, over one-third of all U.S. undergraduate students receive Pell. This paper examines federal Pell assistance and institutional costs for…

Can an academic institution be truly free if it relies on government funding? Federal dollars mean federal mandates, and those mandates grow increasingly draconian. More and more, they stifle debate on open questions, demand denial of verifiable scientific truths, eliminate due process for students accused of misdeeds by other students, or insist…

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) has a codified responsibility to develop the Commonwealth's state-level strategic plan for higher education and to review The Plan every six years to ensure its relevance in addressing critical issues. In 2019, to fulfill a Code requirement and more important, to identify the main near-…

This report provides a snapshot of certain aspects of transfer student success and costs using data from four transfer cohorts matriculating at four-year institutions between 2006-07 and 2009-10. These cohorts allowed for the tracking of students post-transfer for up to six years. Transfer efficiency can have a direct and significant effect on the…

The 2020 General Assembly adjourned its regular session by providing over $390 million in additional general fund support for Virginia higher education institutions in the 2020-22 biennium. However, in March, the nation experienced the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to address the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on state revenues, Governor…

Analysis of tuition and fees at public colleges and universities in Virginia must include a discussion of the funding received from the General Assembly. The period covered by this report represents a particularly complicated scenario that impacted not just higher education but all entities that receive general fund tax dollars in Virginia. The…

At state and institutional levels, leaders are discussing and enacting policy changes that could shape the future of higher education for decades-especially public higher education. But when citizens talk about the mission of higher education today, their conversations are different from those of policymakers. How do their values and concerns…

Advanced education contributes to greater individual and regional prosperity, including increased earnings, improved economic growth, greater levels of community engagement and improved health outcomes. Rising costs to students and families combined with a student body that may require additional resources to ensure its success, however, may make…

This briefing was prepared for the 2016 Virginia Education Summit. The report is comprised of questions and answers in the following sections: (1) K-12; (2) Workforce; and (3) Postsecondary. The K-12 section addresses the following questions: (1) What does the K-12 landscape look like in the Commonwealth? (2) How are students performing in…