Over the previous two decades, state lawmakers have made two fundamental changes to how they finance their public universities. They have shifted more of the costs of higher education to students and their families through higher tuition rates; and created new grant programs that are not solely based on financial need but require prior…

Using 1,400 survey responses collected from two large urban community college systems in Texas, this study examined how students' financial habits, stress, and well-being influenced their enrollment behaviors. Working students, compared to their nonworking peers, reported significantly lower levels of overall financial well-being. After…

Student loans are likely to remain a prominent instrument for paying for college in Texas, a necessary financial tool for low- and moderate-income students. As college costs rise and growing enrollments further stretch grant funds, the policy challenge is to assist students in determining the appropriate level of student loans for their individual…

In 2006, TG estimated that 47,000 bachelor's degrees would be lost in Texas due to financial barriers experienced by college-qualified high school graduates from the class of 2004. With more current data, TG now estimates that the number will be 52,800. "Digging Deeper" explores how students who enroll in college continue to experience…

In 2006, TG (Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation) issued a report entitled "Ready, Willing and Unable: How Financial Barriers Obstruct Bachelor Degree Attainment in Texas." Drawing on a report by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, which projected the number of bachelor degrees lost nationally due to financial…