Using Pell grant awards as a proxy for the enrollment of low-income students is common. The most recent National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) data shows that only 16.9% of community college students enrolled in credit courses receive these grants. This paper examines 7 different hypotheses that might explain this low rate. It finds…

Financial assistance for displaced homemakers should be available from a variety of traditional sources, but special funding is needed on both state and national levels. Characteristics of displaced homemakers, financial resources, provisions for assistance, and current financial aid programs are discussed. (MLW)

The "Student Financial Aid Handbook" explains the policies and procedures required for institutions of higher education to administer federally funded student financial assistance programs properly. This volume describes how a school calculates and pays Pell awards to eligible students and how it reports those payments to the Department…

Explores the need for the higher education community to rethink the structure of higher education finance from its basic foundations. Suggests that future research focus on how the method of delivery of public subsidies--across-the-board subsidies, in-school interest subsidies on student loans, or Pell Grants--influences their effectiveness for…

Information on the General Accounting Office's (GAO) analysis of Pell Grant recipients during the 1986-87 school year is presented. Following an introductory letter, Appendix I looks at profile characteristics of Pell Grant recipients during that year. Findings show that: most were full time, first year, and independent; the majority had little or…

A study that examined information on who receives aid from the major federal assistance programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act is presented. The report is organized by program--Pell Grants, campus-based aid, and Guaranteed Student Loans. (MLW)

Examines the role of higher education in the Puerto Rican society and economy. Discusses the impetus federal assistance has provided to low income Puerto Rican students, especially through the Pell Grant. Analyzes the relationship between educational and employment attainment levels. (APM)

In this article, the author argues that now as never before, education is the key to opportunity, essential to a strong America. In an age when people compete with workers on every continent and information flows across oceans, high-wage jobs are more dependent than ever on high-level skills. The author suggests that together, an America that…

Linda G. Morra of the General Accounting Office testified on possible savings in the Department of Education in order to assist the House of Representatives' Appropriations Committee as they considered budget reductions and rescissions. Morra testified first on the need to reexamine programs previously suggested by the Department of Education for…

The report of the Committee on Education and Labor, together with supplemental minority and additional views is presented to accompany H.R. 4986 to amend the Higher Education Act 1965 to reduce the default rate on student loans under the Act. Topics include the following: committee action; background and need for the legislation; explanation of…

As Congress debates the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), it should heed Friedrich Hayek's warning that democracy is "peculiarly liable, if not guided by accepted common principles, to produce over-all results that nobody wanted." One result of the federal government's student financial aid programs is higher tuition…

This training manual is intended for higher education institutions that process Federal Pell Grants under a new system called the recipient financial management system (RFMS). The RFMS system is part of the electronic data exchange process which allows schools to send and receive Title IV student financial aid application data to and from the…

Federal student assistance has become a tangled thicket of programs and policies. It is complicated, fails to focus benefits on the neediest students, and is increasingly expensive. Complexity and cost, grants or loans, who should benefit from student assistance and who should pay, and reshaping student aid are discussed. (MLW)

The findings of an annual report by the National Association of State Scholarship & Grant Programs, which each year surveys the state agencies responsible for student aid, calls spending increases in need-based aid for undergraduates "a very positive reversal of the slow growth rate" for such aid. (MLW)

The recent history of trends affecting the affordability of college are summarized. A better balance needs to be established between loan and grant support for students. The Stafford Student Loan Program (formerly the Guaranteed Student Loan Program) and the Reishauer HELP program are discussed. (MLW)