How much postsecondary education costs families, and how much is publicly financed, varies immensely across countries and the proper balance is hotly debated. The United States, despite having a highly privately financed system, is home to hundreds of local and provincial (i.e. state) 'free college' programmes. I review the growing literature on…

Starting in 2015, New York State began offering college financial assistance to individuals who have experienced foster care at any point after the age of 13. Recognizing the unique needs of this student population and the desire to provide additional support, the Foster Youth College Success Initiative (FYCSI) was created to encourage and ease…

Students with disabilities are attending college at increasingly higher rates, yet little is known about the costs they experience compared to their peers. In this study we found that undergraduates with disabilities at four-year institutions in the United States experience higher financial, social, and emotional costs, resulting in disparate…

As endowments and fundraising campaigns have skyrocketed in recent decades, critics have attacked higher education for steeply increasing its production cost and price and the snowballing debt of students. In "Wealth, Cost, and Price in American Higher Education," Bruce A. Kimball and Sarah M. Iler reveal how these trends began 150 years…

Concerns about rising college costs and uncertain economic returns have combined with a wave of populist backlash to reduce public trust in higher education, which plummeted to new lows in 2023. President Biden, who ran his 2020 campaign on a platform that included student loan forgiveness and free community college, has focused some of his recent…

"Free college" (sometimes called Promise) programs are common in U.S. higher education. Reviewing 88 studies of 25 state and local programs, I provide a nuanced picture of the mechanisms through which these programs may work and their likely effects on students, communities, and colleges. Some commonly-claimed mechanisms for these…

The admission process for many postsecondary institutions was not fundamentally designed to promote equity. It was especially not designed to put students' needs at the center of the process, let alone to give them decision-making power in institutional policies and practices. However, the year 2020--punctuated by a racial reckoning and global…

This manuscript focuses on the role of Black megachurches in addressing the historical educational exclusion that continues to affect Black students' college access. Secondary data analysis of semistructured qualitative interviews with 27 church and ministry leaders of three Black megachurches in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. uncovered how…

Background: Despite historical efforts (Ellwood & Kane, 2000; Daun-Barnett, 2013; Perna, 2006; Kane, 1999), persisting inequities in higher education access underscore the need for innovative research approaches. Previous studies utilizing geospatial approaches often overlook critical dimensions like college readiness and financial aid while…

The Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Investment met to hear testimony on "Homecoming: The Historical Roots and Continued Contributions of HBCUs." The meeting was entirely remote. The aim of the meeting was to explore the unique role that historically Black colleges and universities play in expanding access to affordable,…

If the state of California finds the funds, the Cal Grant Reform Act--as enacted in the 2022 Budget Act--is to be implemented in 2024 to support hundreds of thousands of Californians in affording, accessing, and succeeding in higher education. Instead, the state has proposed adding more funding to the less equitable Middle Class Scholarship (MCS)…

The purpose of this quantitative research study was to examine the enrollment trends of racial minority and low socioeconomic enrollment, and the equity of higher education access at a four-year private institution in western Pennsylvania. The study concentrated on two student populations over a five-year period at a four-year private institution…

Graduate borrowing makes up a growing share of today's student loans, with about half of all student loan debt borrowed for graduate programs. Average graduate borrowing has grown by about 7 percent for master's degrees and 11 percent for professional degrees over the last 5 years. Borrowing varies widely by field of study and institution type,…

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…