The three pandemic relief bills passed by Congress since March 2020 collectively provide about $75 billion for U.S. colleges--as well as the students they serve. The legislation has brought three waves of funding to community colleges, known as Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding (HEERF) I, HEERF II, and HEERF III. Colleges must spend a…

The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA; P.L. 89-329, as amended) authorizes the operation of three federal student loan programs: (1) the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) program; (2) the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program; and (3) the Federal Perkins Loan program. While new loans are currently authorized to be made only…

The Pell Grant is the cornerstone of the federal student aid programs, providing need-based grant aid to the country's lowest-income postsecondary students. Pell Grants have failed for decades to keep pace with increased college costs and inflation. Doubling the maximum Pell Grant to $13,000 will effectively recalibrate the grant and restore its…

We explore the role of defaults and choice architecture on student loan decision-making, experimentally testing the impact pre-populating either decline or accept decisions compared to an active choice, no pre-population, decision. We demonstrate that the default choice presented does influence student loan borrowing decisions. Specifically,…

On July 23, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed a new rule that will restrict eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. On its own, the proposal will cut access to food assistance for about 3.1 million low income Americans, which will have significant consequences for individuals and families struggling…

This hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions examines reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, focusing on simplifying the free application for federal student aid and reducing the burden of verification. The following opening statements were presented: (1) Honorable Lamar Alexander, Chairman, Committee on Health,…

The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014 and the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Final Rule approved in 2016 outlined major policy changes in four areas: (1) health and safety; (2) consumer education; (3) equal access to high-quality care for children in families with low-incomes; and (4) quality improvement and…

Through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of March 2020, Congress created the first-ever federal emergency aid program for higher education, the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). In the 2020-21 academic year, MDRC partnered with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators…

School nurses have always shouldered wide-ranging clinical and care coordination responsibilities, to which the pandemic added quarantine management, staff training in proper use of protective equipment, and contact tracing. As trusted figures in their communities, school nurses also are--or could be--valuable partners for state boards of…

Nearly all borrowers with federal student loans are currently eligible for an income-driven repayment (IDR) plan that allows them to cap monthly payments at 10 percent of their discretionary income. IDR plans also include a loan forgiveness benefit whereby remaining balances are canceled after a set period of making payments in IDR, typically 20…

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how critical child care is for families while also highlighting and exacerbating the existing inequities in the sector. Even as schools are beginning to reopen, continued investment in school-age care is essential to meet families' needs and address the long-standing inequities that children, families, and…

In accordance with the Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010, this report provides a summary of the U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General (OIG) performance highlights and results of their performance measures for fiscal year (FY) 2021. Those goals align with OIG's FYs 2018-2022 Strategic Plan…

As college promise programs proliferate across the United States with noted intentions to promote access through increased affordability, it is necessary to understand the relationship between these programs and other forms of financial aid, including loans. Using federal, state, and program-level data, we leverage a natural experiment to estimate…

The purpose of this study was to identify the positive and challenging experiences of currently enrolled Pell Grant higher education students at one private, four-year postsecondary institution in Texas. The qualitative study used an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as a data collection approach to gain specific insight about Pell…

Despite their common historical roots, two higher education systems in Latin America differ dramatically in their financing mechanisms. In Argentina, the national government completely subsidizes undergraduate programs in public institutions, while Chile relies mostly on tuition fees charged to individuals attending public institutions. Through…