Purpose: Despite the introduction of structural reforms to the students' loan scheme (SLS) in Ghana's higher education sector, patronage is still low. This paper aims to examine the complexity of technological and behavioural factors underpinning the low rate of students' loan adoption in Ghana. It further contributes to the body of knowledge by…

About half of the more than $1 trillion in outstanding federal student Direct Loans are being repaid by borrowers using IDR plans. Some borrowers in IDR plans are now potentially eligible for forgiveness of their remaining loan balances after 20 or 25 years of payments. GAO was asked to review IDR forgiveness. This report examines: (1) how many…

Much of the policy debate emerging from concerns over student debt has focused on the structure and operation of income-driven repayment (IDR). As the number of available IDR plans and the share of borrowers enrolling in these plans has increased, the system has become more confusing and difficult to navigate. IDR has not prevented default…

Career Technical Education (CTE) and career readiness have become a national priority, reshaping high school curricula across the country. Once primarily centered on college preparation, college and career readiness now emphasizes career pathways as a key component of learner success, with 43 states including at least one career-focused indicator…

College is a worthwhile investment for many people. Research shows that attending college is associated with a variety of benefits, including higher earnings, a lower chance of being unemployed, greater job satisfaction, and better health (Oreopoulos and Salvanes 2011). However, these benefits come at a cost. As many current and prospective…

The U.S. Department of Education's three-month delay in launching the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form and the subsequent lack of continuous access, ambiguities in the form, and data reporting errors have resulted in a significant decline in form completions for 2024. The analysis in this report--a first-of-its kind study…

The purpose of this revelatory case study is to explore how the DACA Initiative (DI) transformed the School of Medicine (SOM) beyond just changing student demographics. In this research, I specifically explored if, through the DI, SOM organizationally changed enough to be considered transformative change in its efforts to enhance the acceptance…

Objective: Determine relationships between college students' student loan presence and self-rated physical and mental health, major medical problems, mental health conditions, physical, dental, and mental health care visits and delays, and medication use and reductions. Participants: A total of 3,248 undergraduates at two regional public U.S.…

College affordability is a significant factor in student access, retention, and completion. Tuition and fee rates are a component of affordability, as is the availability of financial aid programs from federal, state, institutional and private sources, among other factors. Strategically designed approaches to college affordability can better…

Five years after our 2019 analysis of student borrowing rates across the University of California (UC) system, TICAS partnered with the University of California Student Association (UCSA) again to evaluate the state of affordability and student debt for undergraduates at the UC, and their implications for student success. While our analysis finds…

This article draws on existing research, including publicly available data, to identify changes in Colombian HE which have led to its progressive massification and neoliberalisation. These include the introduction of standardised testing; endogenous and exogenous privatisation (Ball and Youdell, 2007); the expansion of the country's non-income…

The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) program is the single largest source of federal financial assistance to support students' postsecondary educational pursuits. The U.S. Department of Education estimates that in FY2025, $93.1 billion in new loans will be made through the program. As of the end of the third quarter of FY2024,…

In early 2020, in response to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump Administration declared a public health emergency under the Public Health Service Act, a national emergency under the National Emergencies Act, and a nationwide emergency under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. Congress and the U.S.…

This study examined the relationship between financial stress and student retention for post-secondary students. Data from 2014 collected at a Pacific Northwest University using The Ohio State's National Student Financial Wellness Study were used to examine the students' reported levels of stress related to finances. Students reported the most…

Bankruptcy reform in 2005 restricted debtors' ability to discharge private student loan debt. The reform was motivated by the perceived incentive of some borrowers to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 even if they had, or expected to have, sufficient income to service their debt. Using a nationally representative sample of millions of anonymized…