Fifty years after the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women continue to be paid less than men in nearly every occupation. Because pay is a fundamental part of everyday life, enabling individuals to support themselves and their families, the pay gap evokes passionate debate. Although the data confirming the persistence of the pay gap are…

Women are paid significantly less than men are in nearly every occupation. Because pay equity affects women and their families in all walks of life, it is not surprising that many women consider the issue important. For more than 130 years, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) has advocated for gender equity in education and the…

As the cost and importance of education continue to rise, more college students across the U.S. begin their postsecondary education by signing a contract to repay an ever-increasing amount of student loan debt. Conventional wisdom maintains that borrowing for college is an investment in the future that should be deemed "good debt". Data…

Three years after signing the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965--legislation that established the Basic Education Opportunity Grant (now called the Pell Grant)--President Lyndon Johnson declared that "every man, everywhere, should be free to develop his talents to their full potential--unhampered by arbitrary barriers of race or birth or income."…

Student aid is money provided by the federal government or another entity, such as a school or a state government, to help students pay for college or trade school. The U.S. Department of Education's federal student aid programs deliver billions of dollars to students each year, representing a substantial federal commitment to provide financial…

When an individual is considering college--or some form of education after high school--financial aid almost always comes to mind. While an individual has the primary responsibility of paying for college, sometimes those funds just aren't enough and he needs to look at other resources. The U.S. Department of Education provides more than $150…

From 1995-96 to 2007-08, the number of undergraduates in the United States grew from about 16.7 million to 21 million (Horn and Berktold 1998; Wei et al. 2009). In 2007-08, two-thirds of all undergraduates received some type of financial aid, including grants, loans, work-study, or some combination of these types of aid. These Web Tables provide…

For both efficiency and equity reasons, student loans schemes have been introduced by several countries. Empirical work has been carried out in order to measure the effectiveness of these policies, but, with few exceptions, their results are not comparable because of their concentration on specific aspects. The present work suggests a…

Students are taking on more college debt in this struggling economy, often without the knowledge to make wise choices. To help students better manage their debt, some college campuses and high schools are ramping up their financial-literacy efforts, where experts say such education should begin. But a squeeze on K-12 resources has hampered the…

Trends in Student Aid, an annual College Board publication since 1983, is a compendium of detailed, up-to-date information on the funding that is available to help students pay for college. This report documents grant aid from federal and state governments, colleges and universities, employers, and other private sources, as well as loans, tax…

Federal student aid comes from the federal government--specifically, the U.S. Department of Education. It's money that helps a student pay for higher education expenses (i.e., college, career school, or graduate school expenses). Federal student aid covers such expenses as tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and transportation.…

This report card provides information on major health sciences and rural health schools in West Virginia including: (1) Medical School Profiles; (2) Medical Licensure Examinations; (3) Medical Student Indebtedness; (4) Residency Training; (5) Medical School Graduate Retention; (6) Other Health Sciences Program Graduates; (7) Loans and Incentives;…

From 1995 to 2007, fall enrollment for graduate and professional students increased by 30 percent, from 2 to 2.6 million students (Snyder, Dillow, and Hoffman 2009, tables 206 and 207). Average tuition and fees also went up over this same period; the average full-time tuition and fees paid by graduate students increased 37 percent, in…

Colleges across the nation are struggling to confront a growing problem in higher education: student debt. As more students borrow more money than ever before, and recent graduates enter the worst job market in a generation, students are increasingly unable to pay back their loans. This report discusses the growing problem of students defaulting…

Burgeoning student loan debt indicates problems not only for the country's borrowers but also for the postsecondary system. The rise in student loan defaults signifies a rise in institutional cohort default rates (CDRs)--a measure of accountability that informs the government and the general public how well an institution prepares its students for…