In this policy brief, we use research findings to illuminate experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic of U.S. rural college students from poor and working-class backgrounds. We offer institutional, state, and federal policy lessons gleaned from such experiences. We show how rural, poor and working-class students' higher education success was…

Recent state and national achievement exam results, as well as academic progress reports, have underscored how the COVID-19 pandemic and related school closures had a large, negative impact on students' reading and math development. While a great deal is known about the test-based academic impacts of the pandemic such as test scores that provide…

The 11th edition of "Knocking at the College Door" comes at a critical time for the country. Many sectors of the economy face workforce shortages, while higher education faces increasing skepticism about its value. The data and analyses within these pages will likely fuel further concerns for those across higher education as the nation…

This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the relationships between learning challenges during the COVID-19 lockdown, motivation, and perseverance in one statistical triadic model. Two hundred and thirty-eight Saudi students (undergraduates and graduates) studying different subjects from eight universities completed a structured…

Physician graduate medical education (GME) provides the clinical education to practice medicine independently in the U.S. Agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) fund GME, including over $15 billion from Medicare in 2018 (the latest year for which data were available). To be eligible for federal funding, GME programs…

Engrossed House Bill 1121, signed into law during the 2021 Legislative session and codified in RCW 28A.230.320, provides the State Board of Education (SBE) the authority to establish an emergency waiver program to allow school districts and local educational agencies (LEAs) to waive certain high school graduation requirements on an individual…

This statutory report presents the activities and accomplishments of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG) from April 1, 2024, through September 30, 2024. The audits, investigations, and related work highlighted in the report are products of OIG's mission to identify and stop fraud, waste, and abuse; and promote…

This report provides a broad overview of the history and recent controversies surrounding safe space, and explains the variation of how safe space is defined or enacted at campus, division, and classroom levels within institutions. This brief is designed to give policymakers a broader perspective on safe spaces and the different ways that people…

Higher education leads to increased earnings and lower risks of unemployment and is especially important for individuals during economic downturns. The COVID-19 crisis has caused unemployment rates to increase. In previous economic downturns, increases in unemployment rates led to surges in postsecondary enrollment. But contrary to historical…

Making college more affordable for families has been a critical issue for states in the SREB region for many years. Now the negative economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have created additional barriers to college affordability. This brief provides an overview of college affordability in the SREB region based on data from the 2017-2018…

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) play a prominent role in the nation's higher education system. For example, 574 HSIs enrolled over 2 million Hispanic students in the 2021-2022 school year, representing 60 percent of all Hispanic students in college. Like most colleges, HSIs must continue to invest in their facilities and digital…

In the post-Apartheid era South Africa's universities have faced serious questions about the quality of their student learning in the face of near impossible challenges. The University of Cape Town, widely seen as the country's leading higher education institution, has shown remarkable resilience, however, in the range of initiatives it has…

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…

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…

The article is aimed at examination of the first-year students' opinion about distance education, as well as their social behaviour and academic performance during online English language classes in Kazakhstan. The initial survey was conducted among the freshmen of the four biggest universities of Kazakhstan: KazUIR&WL after Ablai khan, KazNU…