Researchers have paid scant attention to the opportunities and the barriers associated with across-state study of college-transition policies, although the American states comprise a social system especially well suited for comparative analysis. What sorts of questions should researchers ask about college-transition policies and programs? How…

Over the last two decades, there has been a significant change in the financing of higher education in the United States. A decrease in student and institutional support in real terms, tuition increases at all types of institutions, along with the view that students are the primary beneficiaries of higher education has resulted in policies that…

Analyzed data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) to examine the awarding of institutional need-based versus non-need-based grants to undergraduate students. Determined: (1) how use of these grants has changed; (2) socioeconomic characteristics of student recipients; and (3) how institutional and student characteristics help…

This report examines the relationship between the amount of loans students take out during their undergraduate years and the decisions they make regarding careers and enrollment in graduate school. It uses data from the Baccalaureate and Beyond Survey (National Center for Education Statistics) of approximately 11,000 students who completed their…

Discusses a report from the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, "Access Denied: Restoring the Nation's Commitment to Equal Educational Opportunity," which found that, despite an extended period of national prosperity, there has been disappointing progress toward equal educational opportunity. Discusses the report's recommended four…

This report addresses the relationship between tuition, financial aid, and access to public higher education through an economic analysis of data from individual states from 1976 to 1993. The analysis focuses on states, rather than the individual, as the unit of observation and how state policies regarding the setting of tuition rates and…

Financial assistance for individuals attending college has existed in this country almost as long as higher education itself. Institutions awarded many of the earliest scholarships based on students' academic merit, with consideration often given to financial need. This practice was carried into the twentieth century, largely by private elite…

This paper analyzes data from the 1989-90 and 1995-96 National Postsecondary Student Aid Studies to examine the awarding of institutional need-based versus non-need grants to undergraduate students. The study examines how the use of the different types of scholarships has changed in recent years; characteristics of students who receive the grants;…

This research examined the impact of state policies regarding tuition rates and financial aid budgets on access to public higher education. The study addressed two specific issues: (1) whether undergraduate enrollment rates of students in different racial groups changed during the period 1976-94, and (2) the impact of increased tuition at public…