Under Utah House Bill 144, some unauthorized immigrant (UI) students who attend a Utah high school are exempt from paying the non-resident cost of tuition at Utah higher education institutions. This analysis examines awards earned by undergraduates who were eligible for the HB144 waiver: UI students who attended high school in Utah. Completion…

This study focuses on tuition reset policies, where colleges reduce the published sticker price by at least 5%, and in many instances, much more. We use a difference-in-differences design to examine the effect of these policies on student enrollment disaggregated by race/ethnicity and a proxy for economic disadvantage. On average, these policies…

Community college baccalaureates (CCBs) provide an affordable pathway to baccalaureate-level education but increasing tuition rates present a potential financial barrier for students. Institutional aid as a cost-constraining mechanism has historically been less utilized in the 2-year sector when compared to traditional 4-year institutions. Yet,…

In response to rising college tuition and student debt over the past three decades, some institutions, localities, and states have implemented a range of tuition-free promise programs to promote college access and success. Programs vary widely in their design features, including eligibility stipulations and award structure. I explore the growing…

Each year, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) provides a tuition and fees report based on charges approved by boards of visitors at Virginia public institutions. The report includes a list of tuition and fee charges to in-state and out-of-state students and for undergraduate and graduate programs. It also provides trends…

Tuition discounting has been a long-standing practice among colleges and universities. Its roots can be traced to the beginnings of the 1970s, and its use has continued to increase and expand in the decades following. However, despite its widespread use, the research is inconclusive whether tuition discounting has been an effective strategy to…

Community college baccalaureate (CCB) degree programs have become increasingly popular in recent years, with over 100 community colleges in 24 states currently offering at least one bachelor's degree program. Despite the growing prevalence of CCB degree programs, the financial implications of CCB adoption remain largely unknown. This study…

Governments around the world use grant and loan programs to ease the financial constraints that contribute to socioeconomic gaps in college completion. A growing body of research assesses the impact of grants; less is known about how loan programs affect persistence and degree completion. We use detailed administrative data from Chile to provide…

Dropout of university students can have negative consequences for students' futures as well as for university income. University systems with a multiple enrollment policy may offer students benefits, such as a second chance to graduate instead of dropping out. However, little is known about the outcome constellations (graduation, dropout) of…

Using an output distance function as an analytic framework, stochastic frontier analysis (SFA), and a generalized true random effects (GTRE) model, this study examines the financial context of bachelor's degree production efficiency among public master's colleges and universities (MCUs) in the United States. Employing a GTRE model, degree…

How expensive is a college degree? Usually, the answer is based on what students pay in tuition and fees compared to what they earn after graduation. Very little is known about the economic cost of running an electrical engineering program compared to, say, a history department, or the resource consequences of steering more students into these…

The traditional mission of community colleges is rooted in the provision of sub-baccalaureate education at a low price, but a total of 19 states have changed their legislative policies and currently allow community colleges to offer community college baccalaureate (CCB) degree programs. This study examines the impact of CCB adoption on the tuition…

Promise programs, or place-based tuition-free college policies, have become increasingly popular among policymakers looking to expand postsecondary attainment. In this article, we examine Tulsa Achieves, a widespread, albeit understudied type of promise program that covers the balance of students' tuition and fees after other aid is exhausted at a…

College affordability has been an urgent concern in the context of Texas higher education. In September 2003, the Texas Legislature passed HB 3015 (2003) to allow governing boards of public universities to set different designated tuition rates, with no upper limit. As a result, tuition at four-year colleges and universities in Texas has…

To counter tuition and textbook costs for degree-seeking students, a specific pathway to a bachelor's degree in Leadership was developed. The pathway, comprised of partnerships with the high school Leadership Academy at a public high school, community college, and Old Dominion University (ODU), reduced tuition and textbook costs, allowing the…