The Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) is authorized by Part B of Title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, P.L. 114-95) in 2015. Congress created this program to address the unique needs of rural schools that disadvantage them relative to non-rural schools. To…

This document is designed to help school district teams engage in meaningful and productive conversations about how federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act funds can be used to address students' academic and social-emotional needs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This document offers considerations, examples of evidence-based strategies, and…

The purpose of this report is to share with the U.S. Department of Education (Department) observations made by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) regarding States' Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund initial 45-day reports and annual reports. The objectives of the review were to review States' initial 45-day GEER Fund reports to…

Student debt levels were already pronounced before the pandemic hit, with $91.1 billion in annual federal student lending in 2019-20, up from $20.7 billion in 1990-91. Over that same period, per-student borrowing rose from $2,110 to $6,276, after adjusting for inflation. Evidence available as of Nov. 20, 2021, suggests that the COVID-19 downturn…

The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted education for all students, but has hit students from vulnerable and systemically neglected populations hardest. Beyond interruptions to instruction, many of these students face food insecurity, unreliable access to remote learning technology, reduced access to student supports and education services, and housing…

Title I is the largest federal aid program in the United States. Title I funding is utilized to provide supplemental aid to campuses serving Title I students for two types of programs: targeted assistance or school-wide. One Texas public middle school applied to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for the school-wide Texas Title I Priority Schools…

To meet the demands of a growing knowledge economy, North Carolina must address a history of exclusion that has disproportionately impacted Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, and American Indian communities and individuals who earn low wages by intentionally creating conditions that develop talent within these communities. This report…

Growing rapidly in numbers and institutionally diversifying, Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) play a critical role in the postsecondary education of Latinxs and other traditionally underserved college students in the United States. However, congressional allocations to Title V--a federal grant program for HSIs--have not increased in step with…

The objective of the audit was to determine whether the Florida Department of Education (Florida) established and implemented systems of internal control that ensured (1) displaced student count data provided to the U.S. Department of Education were accurate and complete, (2) Temporary Emergency Impact Act (EIA) program funds were appropriately…

We used NVivo for inductive semantic coding of 619 Black caregivers' qualitative responses from the RAPID Survey regarding about they were coping with the challenges of COVID-19. Kinship networks and religion/spirituality were the two most frequently mentioned coping strategies followed by government financial support (e.g. stimulus money, food…

The violence of incarceration creates greater responsibility for higher education administrators in supporting students who are in prison. Using focus group data with incarcerated students and formerly incarcerated alumni who participated in or are actively participating in Second Chance Pell, we explore their perceptions and understandings of the…

The U.S. Department of Education has projected enrollment declines over the next decade, leading to budget cuts for school districts, which will be particularly impactful in urban and rural areas serving vulnerable students. As federal COVID-19 funds expire, districts will face challenges in cutting costs, potentially leading to layoffs or school…

The Federal Pell Grant program, authorized by Title IV-A-1 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, (HEA; P.L. 89-329), as amended, is the single largest source of federal grant aid supporting postsecondary education students. The program provided approximately $31 billion in aid to approximately 6.5 million undergraduate students in FY2023. Pell…

This dissertation investigates the complex connections among loan debt burden, student experiences, and post-bachelor's outcomes, situated within the framework of systemic disparities in educational funding and opportunities. It identifies declines in state funding across educational levels as a systemic and politicized issue, disproportionately…

More than 1.6 million children and youth in the United States attend 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLCs), which are federally funded after-school programs available in each state, particularly for students who attend high poverty and low-performing schools (US Department of Education, 2020). These 10,125 centers are intended to do…