In the United States today, there exists a very serious conversation over financial aid at all levels of education. The conversation going on nationally permeates every level of society: politics, the nuclear family, and the economy. Further, at this point in our national history, we have several generation gaps with respect to education and its…

In August 2022, the U.S Department of Education (ED) announced it would invoke the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 (HEROES Act) to cancel up to $20,000 of federal student loan debts for borrowers who fell below certain income thresholds. The HEROES Act authorizes the Secretary to "waive or modify" statutory…

Saudi Arabia has been one of the major contributors to the increasing number of international students in the United States. The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of resources provided to Saudi Arabian students while they are pursuing their postsecondary education using Lizzio's "Five Senses of Success Model" as a…

This paper presents an exploratory analysis of the funding mechanisms for higher education across sixteen countries which builds upon existing work on educational institutions, educational outcomes, and welfare regimes. We focus upon the current financing dilemma within the Irish higher education system, seeking potential solutions within an…

This Policy Snapshot explores need-based financial aid programs across the country and highlights state program examples, grant and scholarship expenditure amounts, and recent legislative activity.

In this study, we explore how accounting doctoral students fared during the pandemic. We survey accounting doctoral students from Canada and the United States and perform quantitative and qualitative analyses of the responses. We situate our research within social cognitive theory, and our findings suggest that accounting doctoral students…

The costs of attending four-year colleges and universities in the United States have steadily increased over four decades leading to high levels of student debt and many obstacles for low-income students. The analysis presented appraises the extent of the cost and affordability problems, debunking the sensationalistic claims that are common in…

States invest in public higher education in two primary ways: through direct funds to institutions (general operating support) and direct funds to students in the form of state financial aid programs (student grant aid). General operating support is the larger of the two funding categories, totaling $80.8 billion in 2019, while state financial aid…

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…

This publication describes the methods and procedures used for the 2008/18 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:08/18). The B&B graduates, who completed the requirements for a bachelor's degree during the 2007-08 academic year, were first surveyed as part of the 2008 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08), and then…

Most Americans today need some education beyond high school to secure a well-paying job, and higher education is a key factor in social and economic mobility. But higher education is not accessible to all students. To further equalize opportunity, states must understand options for improving the way they fund higher education. America's public…

The gainful employment rule enforces the Higher Education Act's requirement that all career education programs receiving federal student aid "prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation." The rule uses debt-to-earnings ratios to assess whether career education programs at public, nonprofit, and for-profit colleges…

This First Look publication provides the first results of the 2019-20 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:20), the most comprehensive national study of student financing of postsecondary education in the United States. This report includes information for about 80,800 undergraduate students and 19,700 graduate students attending 2,200…

This First Look report presents selected findings about student financial aid during the 2019-20 academic year. These findings are based on data from the 2019-20 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:20). NPSAS:20 is a national study of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled any time between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020, in…

This First Look report presents selected findings about student financial aid during the 2019-20 academic year. This document contains supplemental tables which feature state-level percentages of students receiving aid and average amounts received by undergraduate students. These findings are based on data from the 2019-20 National Postsecondary…