Obtaining a college degree creates a pathway for low-income students and their families toward advancement within American society. Earning a postsecondary credential positively impacts an individual's employment outcomes, income, job satisfaction, and overall health. In working toward this goal, older, financially independent working…

The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA; P.L. 89-329, as amended), authorizes numerous federal aid programs that provide support to both individuals pursuing a postsecondary education and institutions of higher education (IHEs). The FAFSA Simplification Act (FSA; Title VII, Division FF of P.L. 116-260) makes significant changes to the underlying…

The objective of this audit was to determine whether Federal Student Aid (FSA) ensured that: (1) its total and permanent disability (TPD) discharge process operated in accordance with Federal program requirements; and (2) accurate information on student loan discharges was entered into FSA's system of records. The audit covered TPD accounts that…

The COVID-19 pandemic is putting immense strain on districts, schools, students, families, and all the stakeholders connected to them. During the Great Recession, many people enrolled in a postsecondary pathway based on the job market's weakness. Those without any postsecondary education fared particularly poorly after the Great Recession.…

For the past 14 years, Sallie Mae's "How America Pays for College" report has surveyed college students and parents of undergraduate students about their attitudes toward higher education and how they are paying for it. The research examines families' attitudes toward the value of a college education, as well as their key considerations…

There is an undeniable fact that enrollment management efforts on academic campuses have become an integral part of campus finance and the backbone of accreditation. Many Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are on the verge of collapsing and even losing their accreditations due to low enrollment, a decline that has been observed…

Background/Context: Policies featuring individualized learning plans (ILPs) have become increasingly popular among states seeking to improve college and career readiness through early postsecondary planning. Although ILPs are featured in legislation for more than 35 states, limited work has been done on measuring their effectiveness to ensure that…

We examine changes in California's FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) applications during the COVID-19 crisis. There was little change in applications for high school graduates due to an early deadline for state aid. After the deadline--from early March to mid-August--FAFSA applications of potential college freshmen declined 14%,…

Financial aid opens the door to a college degree and makes higher education a real possibility for students from all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Student knowledge about financial aid availability and application processes, however, varies substantially by race, ethnicity, and income. Despite belonging to families with lower-than-average family…

Courses: This unit-level teaching assignment was designed for courses on rhetoric, persuasion, professional communication, public speaking, and business communication. Objectives: By completing this activity, students should be able to: (1) identify and research a specific job, scholarship, or award they'd like to pursue within the next six…

In Spring 2025, the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) launched one of its most concentrated financial aid outreach campaigns yet. The goal: Raise Washington's historically low Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion rates so more students could access the aid they deserve. With only three months left in the school…

Funding for post-secondary students with disabilities in Canada is an under-studied yet pressing policy issue that affects up to 15% of students currently enrolled in post-secondary institutions across the country reflecting, at the same time, trends in educational accommodations occurring on a global scale. This article presents new data and…

Verification is a federally mandated process that requires selected students to further attest that the information reported on their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is accurate and complete. In this brief, we estimate institutional costs of administrating the FAFSA verification mandate and consider variation in costs by…

This guide is intended for college financial aid administrators and counselors who help students begin the aid process--filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form, verifying information, and making corrections and other changes to the information reported on the FAFSA. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the…

In both the stacks of research compiled by education think tanks and in the conversations had around the dining room table by families of aspiring college students, one stumbling block to college enrollment predictably crops up--financial aid. The topics range from avoiding endless, crushing debt to options for part-time jobs. But often the focus…