An examination of school funding in cities in Michigan and Texas found wide disparities in the total amount of property taxes collected, but also differences in property tax rates. Families living in high-poverty neighborhoods whose children attended schools with relatively low funding actually paid higher property tax rates than wealthy families…

It has been well-documented that postsecondary graduates, on average, earn considerably more than others. Consequently, increasing postsecondary enrollment among youth from lower-income families--through targeted student aid or community outreach programs--may constitute an effective mechanism for promoting upward income mobility. However, there…

Drawing on the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we document a startling empirical pattern: the career earnings premium from a four-year college degree (relative to a high school diploma) for persons from low-income backgrounds is considerably less than it is for those from higher-income backgrounds. For individuals whose family income in high…

Research in developmental psychology often contains samples where education and income are highly related. This study examines characteristics of low-income families who have at least one parent with a college education and how their children's achievement and parenting practices compare to other types of families. Using the Early Childhood…

As tuition-free college policies spread rapidly across the states, an increasingly important policy debate has emerged regarding the optimal policy design of tuition-free college. However, existing scholarly evidence has focused almost exclusively on student outcomes, leaving the political decision-making processes among the public and…

Does the gender pay gap affect women's ability to repay their student debt? This study investigates the extent to which an income contingent scheme benefits women because of their individual earnings. Using the Australian Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, gender differences in debt repayment behaviour over the past two…

Understanding the concerns high school students have about college presents opportunities to address college-bound students' needs before they arrive on campus, potentially increasing enrollment and retention. In this study, we investigated the academic, campus, social, and personal concerns of college-bound high school students and how these…

This brief is the seventh in Baltimore Education Research Consortium's (BERC's) "Launching into Adulthood" series, which examines the trajectories of Baltimore graduates over six years. BERC established a partnership with Baltimore's Promise and the Maryland Longitudinal Data System (MLDS) that has made it possible to examine both…

Economic information may close aspiration disparities for postsecondary education across socioeconomic, ethnic, and partisan divides. In 2017, we estimated impacts of information on such disparities by means of a survey experiment administered to a nationally representative sample of 4,214 adults. A baseline group was asked whether they preferred…

The state of Kansas created the Child Support Savings Initiative (CSSI) in 2013 to help parents who owe child support pay off debt that is owed to the state while also saving for their children's future higher education. The program aims to encourage parents to make qualifying deposits into tax-advantaged college savings plans--529…

There has been little research on how family income background influences the career earnings boost from a college education. In new research, the authors reach a startling finding: the percentage boost to career earnings from a college education is much lower for individuals who grew up in lower-income families, compared to their peers who grew…

Public universities typically charge students less than the full cost of education, using funds from state and local government and other sources to cover the difference. This indirect subsidy is one of the largest forms of aid in America's higher education system but is less understood in the policy community than grants and loans, which are…

Students with a zero expected family contribution (EFC) are those with the greatest financial need and least ability to pay for college and now make up more than one in three American undergraduate students. Yet little is known about the year-to-year financial aid volatility of these students, or whether it varies by how the zero EFC was…

Context: Emerging research indicates parental educational attainment is not always stable over time, particularly among young adults with lower levels of income and educational attainment. Though increases in postsecondary education are often highlighted as a route to greater earnings among higher-income students, it is unclear whether increases…

The focus of this study is to explore college outcomes for students who come from traditionally lower-income backgrounds, reporting a household income of $30,000 or less, and who were awarded a fee reduction to take one or more Advanced Placement® (AP®) Exams, compared to students with a similar background and ability who did not participate in an…