With increasingly widespread calls to raise educational attainment levels without substantially growing public investment in higher education, policymakers and others have devoted growing attention to the role of financial aid programs in providing access to, promoting affordability for, and incentivizing success in college. Given relative levels…

There is widespread concern that the rising costs of higher education are making college unaffordable for many students and their families. Federal and state support is central to promoting college affordability; however, persistent state budget constraints have limited funding for public colleges. GAO was asked to study state policies affecting…

The "2018-19 Counselors and Mentors Handbook on Federal Student Aid" provides useful information to help high school counselors, TRIO and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) staff, and other mentors advise students about financial aid for postsecondary education. This book focuses on the federal…

This report reviews and analyzes California policies that are designed to support early learning in children from birth through age five years. The analysis is limited to early childhood (EC) education-related programs and supports that are likely to directly affect children's cognitive and social development. The information in the report comes…

The ability to communicate in multiple languages and navigate distinct cultural settings are significant assets that need to be understood and supported in schools. Minnesota values schools that strive to recognize and build on the linguistic and cultural resources of students and families. Recognizing and building on the strengths and resources…

We all want Texas kids to have a bright future, but Texas is consistently ranked in the bottom ten states for child well-being. Texas decision makers must create policies that improve conditions for all Texas kids and put them on the road to success. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Texas ranks 43rd in overall child well-being (based on…

Public perceptions of college students and their needs have not evolved. Likewise, embedded in the minds of policymakers is a traditional picture of higher education's mission as largely focused on teaching and learning. To some extent, this is true for college staff, as well. As a result, shifting the paradigms around social, economic, and…

Although there has been significant progress in the long term, achievement gaps among the nation's students persist.Many factors have contributed to the disparities in outcomes, and societal changes can explain progress, or lack thereof, over the past few decades.This is well documented in the 2010 Educational Testing Service (ETS) report…

California's system of special education served about 718,000 students in 2014-15, or about 11.5 percent of the K-12 population. It is expensive, consuming some $12 billion in federal, state, and local dollars annually. Special education operates within a legal framework that sets it apart from the rest of the K-12 system. The state's enactment of…

As the early education coordinator for Prince George's County Public Schools, Judith P. Hoyer lamented the gaps in available services for low-income families. In the 1990s, she created a central location in Adelphi, Maryland, for important early childhood services, thus fostering cooperation of governmental and private agencies around the needs of…

California's system of school finance is highly regulated and prescriptive. A large share of state funding is allocated through categorical programs; that is, programs whose funding is contingent on districts using the money in a particular way or for a particular purpose. In 2008-09, the strings were taken off 40 of those programs, collectively…

Over the last four decades, legal mandates and legislative reforms have compelled states to improve the equitable distribution of state resources across school districts, and, more recently, to increase state expenditures to more adequately fund education. However, there is limited evidence on the extent to which differences in the resource,…

This report is a longevity, simulational study that looks at how the ratio of state support to local support effects the number of school districts that breaks the common school's funding formula which in turns effects the equity of distribution to the common schools. After nearly two decades of adequately supporting the funding formula, Oklahoma…

New York State (NYS) has long been a pioneer on early childhood education, with a brain trust of early education experts and dedicated practitioners in the field. Starting in 1997, under the leadership of the Assembly, NYS began its state funded prekindergarten program, funding half-day programs across the state. In 2007, half-day pre-K expanded…

How do children fare in the federal budget? Investments in children's health, education, and overall well-being pay high dividends for taxpayers and the economy as a whole. Without adequately funded education, nutrition, housing, early education and care, and other basic supports, the foundation of children's well-being is at risk. This report 1)…