Generally, need-based financial aid improves students' academic outcomes (Nguyen, Kramer & Evans, 2019). However, the largest source of need-based grant aid in the United States, the Federal Pell Grant Program (Pell), has a mixed evaluation record (Bettinger, 2004; Rubin, 2011; Marx & Turner, 2018; Park & Scott-Clayton, 2018;…

Generally, need-based financial aid improves students' academic outcomes. However, the largest source of need-based grant aid in the United States, the Federal Pell Grant Program (Pell), has a mixed evaluation record. We assess the minimum Pell Grant in a regression discontinuity framework, using Kentucky administrative data. We focus on whether…

Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA; P.L. 89-329), as amended, authorizes programs that provide financial assistance to students to pursue postsecondary education at eligible institutions of higher education (IHEs). In academic year (AY) 2022-2023 (July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023), 5,918 domestic institutions had written agreements with the U.S.…

Bucky's Tuition Promise (BTP) at the University of Wisconsin--Madison offers generous financial aid to low-income, in-state students. Unlike many similar programs at other public universities, financial eligibility for BTP depends solely on a family's Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), rather than on the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) from the Free…

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…

Purpose and Method of Study: This study focused on the relationship between the cost of undergraduate education (COUE) and graduation rates in four-year institutions in Oklahoma. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the cost of undergraduate education (COUE) and graduation rates at four-year higher education…

In the past few decades, increased use of federal student loans has created an enormous financial burden for many first-generation and low-income students who attend 4-year public postsecondary institutions to attain a degree. Reaching those educational goals for many undergraduate students and how they reach their goals has been at the heart of…

Community college presidents play a critical role in making decisions that shape the organizational cultures and policies of their institutions. This study explored the perceptions of 15 public community college presidents in Texas. Using focus groups and grounded theory methods, this research applied analytical frameworks focused on human…

Low-income high-achieving students are less likely than high-income peers to enroll in selective colleges. Financial certainty interventions can address administrative burdens that stifle their enrollment, even when colleges are tuition-free for them. However, we do not know whether these interventions are effective when students enjoy admissions…

The study aimed at investigating the experiences of graduate students who experience, for the first-time, cost-sharing policies in Saudi public universities. The study used the explanatory sequential mixed methods approach, involving a two-phase data collection. First, quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire administered to…

This report analyzes data from 2001-2017 to examine public four-year universities' spending on financial aid dollars--specifically between non-need-based and need-based aid. Our researcher found that these universities have spent nearly $32 billion of their own financial aid dollars on students who lack financial need, according to an analysis New…

In March 2020, COVID-19 sent shocking changes through California's public higher educational institutions' means and methods of operating, which resulted in sharp drops in revenue along with sudden costs associated with on-campus COVID-19 safety measures and with moving courses and student services online. To make matters worse, state funding also…

The most recent data on tuition, appropriations, and state grant aid present an economic outlook that appears favorable in the West. Tuition rates remained relatively flat for the past decade, total state funding to higher education increased across the region in the past year, and state grant aid continued to increase since 2010-11. Despite these…

The Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning serves as the governing board overseeing the eight public universities in Mississippi, including the University of Mississippi Medical Center located in Jackson. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is the accrediting body for each of the public universities in Mississippi.…

In December 2023, TICAS published new research on the College Affordability Gap--the gap between students' total cost of attendance and non-loan aid available to them--in California, Michigan, and New York, with a focus on students eligible for Pell Grants. Our new report builds on this research with data from nine additional states (Colorado,…