Promise programs are discussed as a policy movement that began with the 2005 launch of the Kalamazoo Promise. Since then, programs bearing the Promise label or sharing similar features have spread across the higher educational landscape, appearing in most states and across postsecondary sectors. Simultaneously, scholarly literature discussing…

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the primary application that determines access to federal, state, and institutional financial aid. When students fail to complete their FAFSA application, they are less likely to enroll or complete a credential, leaving tens of millions of federal resources for students on the table. Boosting…

In order to assist higher education institutions and their students during the pandemic, the federal government established the Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund, which directed over $75 billion to institutions of higher education--including nearly $25 billion to community colleges--over a three-year period. The U.S. Department of…

This year, The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) Michigan Student Advocacy Fellows focused their advocacy on expanding resources for students to cover rising non-tuition costs associated with higher education. As their culminating project, the students conducted a survey assessing the impact of non-tuition costs on Michiganders…

This fact sheet focuses on how adult students in Michigan are accessing, affording, and completing postsecondary credentials. Adult learners are adult individuals, often considered to be aged 25+, who return to education, often at the high school and undergraduate levels. [This fact sheet was prepared with the Michigan Center for Adult College…

25 states have introduced programs that offer a tuition-free pathway to degrees or credentials to a substantial portion of their residents. Today's statewide "Promise" programs vary widely in terms of their scope, their generosity, and how they function. As a result, states like Michigan that are considering introducing or expanding…

TICAS partnered with higher education researcher Dr. Donald E. Heller to examine the "affordability gap" that students are facing when paying for college. The report uses federal data to determine the so-called "college affordability gap" in three states--California, Michigan, and New York--with a focus on students who are…

Lyman Briggs College is a small residential college within Michigan State University, devoted to preparing students for STEM careers via preparation in the biophysical sciences that is paired with the humanistic and social scientific study of science and sciences humanistic and social dimensions. This paper reports and interprets the quantitative…

Community colleges serve more than a significant proportion of Americans who could not otherwise attend colleges by providing access to fulfill their educational goals. Many of the students enrolled in the institutions look to the federal government to finance their educational expenses by obtaining federally guaranteed student loans. The…

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…

High-achieving, low-income students attend selective colleges at far lower rates than upper-income students with similar achievement. Behavioral biases, intensified by complexity and uncertainty in the admissions and aid process, may explain this gap. In a large-scale experiment we test an early commitment of free tuition at a flagship university.…

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…

Michigan's public higher education institutions have seen decades of decline in per-student funding, leaving students to face costs that are simply out of reach. The state, for the most part, relies on institutions to provide aid to bring down costs for students at four-year institutions, rather than providing students with aid directly via state…

High tuition makes headlines and may dissuade students from pursuing college or excluding what appear to be high-cost colleges. However, a college's "sticker price" can be misleading because it does not reflect any grant or scholarship aid that reduces the price students actually pay. As the costs of attending college have risen, the…

Recent higher education investments in Michigan have prompted the authors to revisit the reality of college affordability in the state, so that policymakers and stakeholders can monitor the impact of investments moving forward. While MI has lowered the net cost of a postsecondary education, a college credential still remains out of reach for many…