Authored by Dr. Wendy Kilgore and Dr. James Dean Ward, this report delves into the impacts and institutional responses to federal regulations limiting transcript holds for students with unpaid balances. This comprehensive analysis is essential reading for anyone involved in higher education administration. Based on a survey of 326 institutions,…

This report, authored by Dr. Wendy Kilgore, Senior Director of Research at AACRAO, and Dr. James Ward, Principal at Ithaka S+R, provides insights into the impact of state-level transcript hold regulations on higher education institutions and learners. Key findings from the report include: (1) 97% of institutions changed practices or policies after…

As China moved from elite to mass higher education, student borrowers as the product of state intervention have surged. Yet little attention has been paid to their voices. This study conducts reflexive thematic analysis with a qualitative inquiry into lived experiences of 41 current borrowers. A five-factor typology of debt attitudes yields a…

This Insight Brief discusses how students with intellectual disability can utilize federal financial aid to help pay for college. This publication is updated annually to reflect current legislation and policy related to federal financial aid for students with intellectual disabilities. The information provided is current as of January 2023.

States founded, control, and fund public postsecondary institutions because higher education helps meet state goals. Public institutions of higher education provide considerable public benefits to states, but these benefits have not been systematically measured. As a result, public conversations about the broad value proposition of higher…

This dissertation presents evidence about implementing a free college policy on higher education's demand and supply. This analysis includes descriptive evidence about the impact of the policy on students and programs' behavior. It also develops and estimates a demand and supply model of higher education that provides a framework to analyze the…

Proposed "free college" policies vary widely in design. The simplest set tuition to zero for everyone. More targeted approaches limit free tuition to those who demonstrate need through an application process. We experimentally test the effects of these two models on the schooling decisions of low-income students. An unconditional free…

Nationally, Ithaka S+R estimates that over six million students have completed credits at postsecondary institutions that they cannot document due to a past due balance. These overdue balances contribute to a national problem of stranded credits--credits that students have completed but cannot document because they were unable to fulfill their…

Since 1997, education tax benefits have become an increasingly important component of federal higher education policy. For 2023, 11 higher education-related tax benefits are available. After 2025, absent legislative action, this number will effectively increase to 13. Two provisions that are temporarily suspended are scheduled to be…

The rising costs of college attendance and changes in financial aid packages leave students with little option other than to incur a debt of some amount. Unfortunately, colleges often fail to provide adequate financial literacy and student loan information so prospective students planning to attend college can make informed decisions. Student…

In recent decades, there has been a revival of free tuition policies around the world. The goals of these policies are typically to increase access to and success in higher education. Although research on free tuition policies is growing, it is mainly focused on providing empirical evidence of its effects on student outcomes in the U.S. context.…

This study uses a series of panel models to explore the effect of North Carolina (NC) College Application Week (CAW) and free college applications during that week on the number of applications colleges receive and number of low-income students who matriculate. Our models suggest that NC saw an increase in applications and low-income student…

Sara Goldrick-Rab is the Founding Director of the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice and Professor of Sociology & Medicine at Temple University. She is the recipient of the William T. Grant Foundation's Faculty Scholars Award and the American Educational Research Association's Early Career Award, and in 2016 POLITICO named her one…

The authors contend that the current trajectory of higher education lands our society more or less where the history of higher education began: a haven for the white and wealthy. They maintain the position that in order to intervene in this situation, higher education must be able to identify not only roots of its affliction but its remedies. The…

This report explores the experiences of trans and non-binary students across UK higher education. It compiles new and existing data, alongside interviews with students and academics, to outline the journey from application, through study, to post-graduation. It highlights the unique combination of challenges trans and non-binary students face,…