This Statistics in Brief first examines merit aid and other non-need-based aid from all sources and then focuses on two sources of merit aid widely cited in empirical and policy-oriented literature--postsecondary institutions and states--examining how much merit aid students received and the characteristics of students who received it. It tracks…

Drawing upon data from the 2007-08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08), a nationally representative survey of all postsecondary students, this Statistics in Brief offers an overview of the enrollment characteristics of graduate and first-professional students, when they started their programs, how they combined school and work, the…

The Department of Education is vitally interested in whether the financial incentives provided by the grants affect student behavior. That is, will the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACGs) induce more economically disadvantaged high school students to complete a rigorous high school program and enroll and succeed in postsecondary education? Will…

This article examines the characteristics of low-income undergraduates and how they pay for college. It examines their financial need, describes the contribution of financial aid, and presents what is known about how they close the gap between their costs and the amount of aid they receive. (JM)

This report is a special analysis that is republished from the "Condition of Education 2004" in a booklet form. The analysis examines changes undergraduate student aid between 1989-90 and 1999-2000, focusing on dependent students who were enrolled full time for the full academic year. This analysis examines changes in student financing of…

The first part of this report describes the undergraduate borrowing patterns of 1992-93 bachelor's degree recipients and their graduate enrollment and additional borrowing through 2003. These graduates would have completed their undergraduate borrowing prior to the changes introduced by the 1992 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. At that…

Examined student financing of graduate education and first professional education in U.S. postsecondary institutions, with particular attention to student use of teaching and research assistantships. Data are from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study. (SLD)

Profiles low-income students, focusing on financial need and the contribution of financial aid. Findings from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study show that low-income students who began their postsecondary education in 1995-1996 were less likely than their not-low-income counterparts to have earned a degree or certificate or still be…

This report uses the 2003-04 NPSAS data to describe the characteristics of graduate and first professional students and how they finance their education, with a section focusing on students who attend exclusively part time. The report also includes a compendium of tables providing detailed data on student and enrollment characteristics, types of…

The "Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005" created two new grant programs for undergraduates: the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) program and National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (National SMART) Grant program. The ACG program is intended to encourage students to take challenging courses in high school and thus…

In 1999-2000, approximately 2.7 million students were enrolled in graduate and first-professional programs in colleges and universities in the United States. Using data from the 1999-2000 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:2000), this report profiles students in various degree programs and examines how they paid for their education,…

Examines the extent to which the financial-aid system promotes access to postsecondary education by equalizing income differences. Describes ways in which students and their families cope with the increasing costs of college, and explores the consequences of full-time and part-time work on college persistence. (SLD)

As debate continues over who should get what kinds of aid to attend college, it is important to know what students and their families are actually paying for college, where the money is coming from, and how students' methods of paying vary with their family income and the type of institution they attend. To inform these debates, this report uses…

Using data from the 1986-87 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), this statistical report profiles undergraduate students enrolled in postsecondary institutions in the United States. NPSAS data were supplemented with data from other sources, particularly, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and High School and Beyond…

This report describes the role of parents in providing financial support for their financially dependent undergraduate children. It presents information on the extent to which parents provide their children with gifts, loans, and in-kind contributions; the amounts they provide; how the amounts compare with the expected family contributions…