Federal free-college policies are now at the center of the Democratic higher education agenda. Sen. Bernie Sanders helped move the idea into the mainstream during the 2016 presidential campaign, and other lawmakers have since worked to advance the policy in Congress. Joe Biden effectively put free college on the ballot in 2020 when he fully…

This study compares tuition funding arrangements, debt at graduation, and earnings outcomes for full-time domestic undergraduates in eight Anglophone countries: the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland), United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. According to multiple estimates, the average English student faces…

This article explores the impact of student self-financing systems on inequalities of access to higher education (HE) through comparative analysis of two national systems, those of England and Australia. The analysis of the historical development of HE in each nation identifies a set of comparative global themes: the expansion of HE in response to…

The aim of the Australian University Student Finances Survey 2012 is to provide an evidence-based understanding of the financial circumstances of the student population in Australia (both international and domestic) through the collection of quantitative data on: access to income support and scholarships, income from paid employment and the impact…

The United States is in need of new strategies to address the historic inequity of access to its colleges and universities. Australia, with its system of deferred tuition and income-contingent repayment, can serve as a source of insight and guidance in addressing this problem and function as an interesting and helpful comparative case. In this…