Over the last two decades, public appropriations for Illinois have been cut in half, increasing tuition and fees for students and contributing to college population declines, underemployment, and hundreds of millions in lost future tax revenue. This document explains the issues facing public university funding in Illinois and lays out the case for…

College affordability concerns have led to new "solutions" for financing college costs, such as income share agreements (ISAs). Drawing on a racialized understanding of academic capitalism, we explore the intersection of higher education, markets, and the state in how ISAs are marketed by two public universities. We find ISAs are…

Simplification of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) entails significant changes to the FAFSA and the methodology for determining eligibility for federal financial aid for the 2024-25 academic year. The changes to the FAFSA form that were mandated by the Simplification Act delayed implementation and shifted the timeline for…

For decades, college tuition costs have been skyrocketing, yet state financial aid has failed to meet the increasing economic needs of college students -- leaving many young people with the choice of bridging the financial gap by taking out student loans or not attending college at all. This pressing issue of rising college tuition is not just a…

The Postsecondary Pathways for Former Foster Care Youth (PP-FFCY) study is a research project that focuses on the transitions of foster care alums to and through postsecondary institutions. Through the Ofice of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL), the PP-FFCY project team is conducting a comprehensive needs assessment report that:…

Each year, NASSGAP completes a survey regarding state-funded expenditures for postsecondary student financial aid. This report provides data regarding state-funded expenditures for student financial aid and illustrates the extent of efforts made by the states to assist postsecondary students. Information in this report is based on academic year…

Postsecondary education is associated with achieving economic self-sufficiency and other positive outcomes. Young people in foster care face challenges pursuing postsecondary education, which can lead to them being less likely than their peers to enroll in college and less likely to earn a degree when enrolled. One federal initiative meant to…

Experts underscore many advantages of higher education as a vehicle for economic mobility, yet it continually fails to be genuinely accessible through its flaws in equity and affordability. Gaining access to higher education often begins with filing a national financial aid form known as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, used…

In Spring 2022, the Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC) conducted a statewide survey of high school seniors on their college decision-making. A report on the decision-making processes of 4-year college-goers was published previously, illustrating those students' focus on cost, location, and academic reputation in…

More than 427,000 undocumented students are enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions. That's an impressive number, considering the many hurdles they must overcome on the road to college and a degree, including restrictions on their ability to enroll in higher education institutions; limits on access to in-state tuition, state financial aid,…

Community college enrollment has significantly declined since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between the spring 2020 term and the spring 2022 term, community college enrollment declined by nearly 17 percent nationwide. This alarming trend has posed a threat to the well-being of community colleges and the students they serve, which includes…

Few studies have examined the experiences of community college students who are or were in foster care. Consequently, relatively little is known about why young people in foster care choose to enroll in community college, what happens to those young people once they enroll, or whether they are receiving the supports they need to achieve their…

State fiscal support for higher education has met sluggish growth recently, a trend that has community college leaders working to meet student needs despite a shrinking resource pool. According to an annual report released in January by Grapevine, state financial aid for higher education increased just 1.6 percent between the 2017 and 2018 fiscal…

Many students have concerns about the affordability of college, which may interfere with their potential success. However, foster care alumni have unique needs when making the transition into postsecondary enrollment. Compared to completion rates for the general population, postsecondary education outcomes for youth with foster care experience lag…

The State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report is produced annually by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) to broaden understanding of the context and consequences of public policy decisions in each state that contribute to public higher education funding levels and funding distributions across states and…