This year's annual report begins with good news from the 2024-25 AAUP Faculty Compensation Survey: Wage growth for full-time faculty members in US higher education exceeded inflation for the second consecutive year, following three consecutive years of declining real (inflation-adjusted) salaries. However, despite the positive trend over the last…

In this article, we introduce the term "vulnerability to achievement stressors," which refers to differentially low achievement when shifts in the educational environment "stress" or threaten the capacity of an individual or a group of individuals to make academic progress. We also introduce a methodological framework for…

Purpose: This study asks how American institutions of higher education defended the principles of academic freedom (or intellectual autonomy) during the 1950s, even as they became increasingly dependent on the federal government's financial support, their eligibility for which required an oath of political loyalty under the terms of the National…

As institutions closed down in mid-March 2020, international students struggled with the decision of whether to stay or go back to their home countries, facing unpredictability in both scenarios. Department of Education guidance excluded international students from Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act relief, and federal guidelines…

Although emergency aid programs have existed on community college campuses for years, no extant research has articulated which emergency resources students apply for and how students prioritize these resources against others (e.g., food needs compared to housing needs). To better understand student emergency aid needs shortly after the World…

This report examines R&D performed by U.S. higher education institutions. It discusses funding by source and S&E field for R&D activities and equipment and provides information on research space. It benchmarks the United States against other nations, and it looks at how academic R&D investments relate to investments in education…

High rates of teacher turnover and persistent student achievement gaps are ongoing challenges for many Indiana schools. State and district leaders have responded with a range of initiatives and policies to strengthen teaching and learning and to increase student access to effective teachers. One of the most promising is the development of teacher…

Today, institutions of higher education may charge whatever they wish for the education they provide, and the government provides the capital for student's tuition through loans without institutions bearing any meaningful risk if students do not repay. Naturally, this drives up costs and borrowing. On top of tuition and fees, students can borrow…

The recent federal American Rescue Plan (ARP), passed into law by Congress, provides an unprecedented investment in education, giving schools and districts access to funds to address the needs of students more holistically. "The Rising Tide that Lifts All Boats: Investing Stimulus Dollars with an Equity Focus," provides several specific…

The purpose of this document is to lay out a framework for the nation's large city school systems to spend new COVID-19 federal dollars strategically and effectively. It sets out overarching goals for the use of funds; articulates broad investment strategies; defines principles for the effective use of funds; articulates things that school…

Charter schools are public schools of choice, according to the Nation's Report Card (NAEP). The U.S. Department of Education uses the term "public charter school." A public charter school is a publicly funded school that is typically governed by a group or organization under a legislative contract--a charter-- with the state, district,…

To address the extraordinary circumstances of extended and widespread closures of schools upon in-person instruction due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), on March 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) invited, pursuant to section 8401(b) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), each State…

Verification is a federally mandated process that requires selected students to further attest that the information reported on their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is accurate and complete. In this brief, we estimate institutional costs of administrating the FAFSA verification mandate and consider variation in costs by…

The Government of India launched the National Higher Education Mission (NHEM) in 2013 to address concerns of severe funding shortages, poor governance structures, and weak quality assurance mechanisms in the country's public state universities. NHEM provided funding incentives to states conditional on the implementation of multiple reforms in the…

Supporting families who have family members with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) as they move through life is a critical need (Reynolds, Palmer, & Gotto, 2018). The phrase, "supporting families," juxtaposes the typical family support paradigm in response to the ongoing shrinkage of federal and state dollars and the…