Financial aid offers are the primary tool colleges and universities use to communicate eligibility for federal, state, and institutional financial aid programs to their prospective and current students. Institutions of higher education develop their own financial aid offers, taking into account many factors, including the format of the educational…

Private nonprofit colleges are increasingly using tuition resets, or a decrease in sticker price by at least 5%, to attract new students and counter declining demand. While discounting tuition with institutional aid is a common practice to get accepted students to matriculate and to increase affordability, a tuition reset is a more transparent…

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…

This dissertation contains three essays that examine the influence of state policies on transfer enrollment at 4-year institutions. The first essay is a systematic review of 16 studies that provide an understanding of the literature on state policies and transfer enrollment at 4-year institutions. In the review I provide an understanding of who…

The problem addressed in this study was that poor performance in dual credit programs negatively impacts first-year community college student's academic progress, placing them at risk for unsatisfactory academic progress and jeopardizing their financial aid eligibility. The purpose was to understand the experiences of first-year college students…

This article is the second of a three-part series based on the book "Basic Guide to Financial Aid." The contents within are adapted from the publication, with additional emphasis on the impact federal student aid administration has on non-financial aid professionals in higher education today. It should be noted that this information is…

The Student Financial Services (SFS) Benchmarking Report examines student financial services operations, including: unpaid student account balances; student accounts in collections; payment channels and methods; student refunds; third-party billing; and staffing and financial services operating budget.

Scholars disagree about the effect out-of-state university students have on potential in-state students. Despite paying a premium to attend state universities, researchers argue that out-of-state students may come at a cost to in-state students by negatively affecting academic quality or by crowding out in-state students. To study this…

Federal Student Aid Programs act as equalizers by removing income inequity as a barrier to college access and outcomes. However, the need-based aid morphs into merit-based at the end of the first year, as students must meet progression benchmarks to remain eligible for federal financial aid. The study examined Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)…

This study examined the role of a state need-based financial aid policy in Latina/o high school students' meaning making of postsecondary access. Utilizing narrative research, the analytical focus on the meaning making uncovered patterns of individual agency in the journeys of eight Latina/o high school students who were recent enrollees in the…

This report describes the need analysis formulas used to calculate the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) for federal student aid applicants. The formulas are codified in Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA), as amended. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the data collection instrument through which students submit the…

The Poarch Band of Creek Indians is a matriarchal tribe located in Escambia County, Alabama. Poarch Creek women are an integral part of the Tribe and serve in various leadership positions within the organization. Poarch women are members of Alabama's only federally recognized Native American Tribe and their educational experiences are largely…

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…

Over the last 3 decades, the Direct Loan program has grown in size and complexity, with over $1.3 trillion in outstanding loans as of September 2023. This program provides financial assistance to help students and their parents pay for postsecondary education. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review issues related to…

When the federal government banned incarcerated students from accessing Pell Grants in the mid-1990s, a new model for supporting Higher Education in Prison (HEP) programs emerged--utilizing Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) as third-party facilitators to fill the gaps left behind in the absence of federal financial aid. With the long-awaited…