This study explored whether a predictive model of student loan default could be developed with data from an institution's three-year cohort default rate report. The study used borrower data provided by a large two-year community college. Independent variables under investigation included total undergraduate Stafford student loan debt, total number…

The COVID-19 health crisis has laid bare the structural inequity in the financial aid system. The pandemic has hit the lowest-income students hardest, with many struggling to afford the basic technology for online learning on top of new or exacerbated food and housing insecurity. Federal and state dollars predicated on Pell Grant eligibility, time…

Because of shrinking budgets, increasing demand, and calls for more graduates, community college leaders are forced to make difficult resource allocation decisions. In many states, sizable percentages of the state funds available to community colleges are conditional on performance measures, including graduations; the number of states with funding…

Escalating poverty rates and economic instability are creating intensifying pressures for higher education. Historically, the U.S. has relied on higher education, in particular community colleges, to help solve both problems by providing educational opportunities to thousands of individuals who would have not been able to go to college and by…

"Aiding Success: The Role of Federal and State Financial Aid in Supporting California Community College Students" documents the variation in student graduation and transfer rates by students' financial situation. The authors of "Aiding Success" analyzed detailed financial aid and student success data from the California…

Low-income students must increasingly rely on work and loans to meet the high costs of college. Too often, though, the jobs they take are not in their field of study, which can impair the potential for career exploration and improved employment outcomes in the future. Despite the need to combine work and school in a meaningful way, only a limited…

"Can Scholarships Alone Help Students Succeed? Lessons from Two New York City Community Colleges" examined the effects of performance-based scholarships for low-income community college students (ages 22-35) who were required to enroll in remedial courses. The study evaluated the impact of the scholarships on continued community college…

This document presents statistics about higher education in Maryland for 2020. The tables in this document are presented according to the following categories: (1) Students; (2) Retention & Graduation; (3) Degrees; (4) Faculty & Staff; (5) Revenues & Expenditures; (6) Tuition & Fees; (7) Financial Aid; (8) Private Career Schools;…

In January 2010, the General Assembly passed the Complete College Tennessee Act (CCTA), a comprehensive reform agenda seeking to transform public higher education through changes in academic, fiscal and administrative policies at the state and institutional levels. While the higher education landscape has been shaped by the CCTA, higher education…

More literature is needed that focuses on the effectiveness of service learning projects in higher education, specifically how individual students are impacted. This study investigates the possible influence of an international service-learning experience on a student's worldview. The International Service-Learning Inventory was used to ask…

The data contained in this report provide new connective tissue and insight into students' lives and the ways in which their financial concerns coincide with their academic work and their ability to succeed. The report focuses on the financial health of community college students, including their perceptions of their current financial…

This brief examines how California is aligning education and training opportunities for people who are currently or formerly incarcerated. It is the first report in our series "Reconnecting Justice in the States," which will explore coordinated justice, education, and workforce policy and practice at the state level. It is part of…

Students and families all over the country are saving, working, taking out loans, and taking steps to make college affordable. Yet they still find themselves facing an unreasonably high price for college, with unexpected, and sometimes untenable, expenses, and fall short of the resources they need to successfully complete degrees. Financial…

After a number of years of enrollment growth at the nation's community colleges, total headcount enrollments leveled off in fall 2011 from the previous year. A collaborative analysis of the American Association of Community Colleges and the National Student Clearinghouse shows an enrollment decrease of almost 1% from fall 2010 to 2011. Despite…

This report shares the perspectives and aspirations of 17 low-income and working-class students based on interviews the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) conducted over two semesters of their college journeys. The report identifies opportunities for policymakers and institutional leaders to support all students through completion,…