Student loans have become a cornerstone of democratized access to higher education. This dissertation contributes a novel approach to conceptualizing the student loan issue: students as consumers--both of college and of the student loans themselves. Through a mixed-method in-depth study of a graduating cohort at a public flagship university, I…

The world of student loans and debt forgiveness for teachers is a patchwork of overlapping programs, contradictory regulations, and expensive subsidies that date back to Dwight D. Eisenhower's signing of the National Defense Education Act of 1958. The 60-year experiment in using federal loan dollars to encourage students to become teachers could…

The federal role in higher education has grown over the past two decades, and now a new administration has the opportunity to strengthen policies that support students and their colleges and universities. To help inform these decisions, the Urban Institute convened a bipartisan group of scholars and policy advisers to write a series of memos…

The federal role in higher education has grown over the past two decades, and now a new administration has the opportunity to strengthen policies that support students and their colleges and universities. To help inform these decisions, the Urban Institute convened a bipartisan group of scholars and policy advisers to write a series of memos…

Student loans are like a dark cloud looming above 41 million Americans (Perna, Kvall, & Ruiz, 2017). Through young adults' personal accounts and relevant literature, we aimed to explore how student debt has altered the lives of college graduates and what can be done to educate students before they graduate with tens of thousands of dollars in…

This report presents a comparative overview of the main features of national student fee and financial support systems in European higher education in the 2020/21 academic year. It provides insights on whether any fees are charged to students in higher education, which students may have to pay such fees and how much. It also presents public…

Researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill teamed up with UnidosUS to explore whether and how debt-driven higher education system makes it difficult for students to finish a college program or degree. Recognizing the increased national attention to equity in higher education and the dearth of data focused on Latino students, the…

The Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) series of data collections allows researchers to address questions regarding bachelor's degree recipients' undergraduate experiences, including their participation in various financial aid programs, student loan debt and repayment of that debt; entrance into and progress through postbaccalaureate education;…

Every year, BC Student Outcomes collects feedback from former students who took post-secondary programs. Student feedback is essential to maintain quality and relevance in the education system. In 2021, just over 29,500 former students were surveyed; key results from those surveys are presented here. In 2021, 92 percent of the former…

This document records testimony from a hearing before the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education that was held to discuss the future of higher education post COVID-19. Member statements were presented by: (1) Honorable Frederica S. Wilson, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Education and Workforce Investment; and (2)…

Students today face a grim reality: they pay exorbitant tuition costs--often for little gain. In recent decades, policymakers and educational institutions have focused on increasing access and funding for first-generation, low-income, and minority students. But these efforts have failed to close the achievement gap because they do nothing to…

College has become a risky proposition for students as well as taxpayers. Fewer than six in 10 students who start a degree will ever finish, which means that they won't see a return on the money they've spent to attend--and if they took out a loan from the federal government, they might be left with unaffordable debt. In the latter case, the…

Postsecondary education (PE) is vital to meet the needs of the changing economy. The cost to attend PE continues to increase, which has elevated student loans. The ratio of debt to potential future income should be a factor considered when choosing to pursue PE. Bakersfield College (BC) and California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) are both…

Despite large and growing student loan balances, there is relatively little evidence on the effects of access to student loans on borrowing and educational outcomes. We examine the effect of access to credit by using policy variation in the maximum federal student loan amounts available to U.S. college students. In particular, first-, second-, and…

International students enrich the campus culture and help domestic students to grow cross-cultural competencies, and international students have also contributed a lot to the revenue of both the hosting institutions and the U.S. economy. Regretfully, there has been a dearth of studies on international students, particularly in the areas of…