ERIC Number: ED595529
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2013-May
Pages: 44
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Undermining Pell: How Colleges Compete for Wealthy Students and Leave the Low-Income Behind
Burd, Stephen
New America Foundation
The nation's public and private four-year colleges and universities are in danger of shutting down what has long been a pathway to the middle class for low-income and working-class students, the Pell Grant. This report presents a new analysis of little-examined U.S. Department of Education data showing the "net price" -- the amount students pay after all grant aid has been exhausted -- for low-income students at thousands of individual colleges. The analysis shows that hundreds of colleges expect the neediest students to pay an amount that is equal to or even more than their families' yearly earnings. As a result, these students are left with little choice but to take on heavy debt loads or engage in activities that lessen their likelihood of earning their degrees, such as working full-time while enrolled or dropping out until they can afford to return.
Descriptors: Federal Aid, Grants, Paying for College, College Students, Low Income Students, Family Income, Debt (Financial), Student Employment, Private Colleges, Public Colleges, Tuition, Costs, State Aid, Competition, Access to Education, Retrenchment
New America Foundation. 1899 L Street NW Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-986-2700; Fax: 202-986-3696; Web site: https://www.newamerica.org
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: New America Foundation
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Pell Grant Program
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A