Discusses the history of student financial aid's emergence as a major issue in American education, including why a policy of financial assistance was initiated, what it sought to accomplish, how national priorities influence those policies, and its current status. Explores how the shift from grants to loans is influencing access, underrepresented…

Presents results of an empirical investigation of Canadian student loans for four recent cohorts of graduates. Data include proportion of students graduating with loans and average amounts borrowed, loan burden measured by debt-to-earning ratios, repayment rates following graduation, and number of graduates reporting loan difficulties. Results are…

Discusses data that indicate that students' academic promise is increasingly influencing even the amount of "need-based" aid they receive, signaling that families' demonstrated financial need is of less importance than they may expect when they fill out all those financial aid forms. (EV)

Four ways to calculate students' net cost of attending college are presented, and merits and drawbacks of each are discussed. Results suggest college remains affordable for most students, and that students have ways to further reduce their net cost. Results also suggest that financial aid programs have had some success in providing access to…

The Director of Research of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators examines how tuition discounting is affecting the neediest students. Results suggest that a large share of institutional aid dollars are still being distributed to low-income undergraduates, despite the rise in merit- and other non-need-based grants. (EV)

Discusses a report from the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, "Access Denied: Restoring the Nation's Commitment to Equal Educational Opportunity," which found that, despite an extended period of national prosperity, there has been disappointing progress toward equal educational opportunity. Discusses the report's recommended four…

Despite federal investments in student aid--plus tax credits exceeding $70 billion and state expenditures for institutions and students exceeding $65 billion--record high financial barriers erected by recent changes in tuition and financial aid have prevented hundreds of thousands of college-qualified high school graduates from enrolling in…

In this article, one particular complex of issues being considered by Congress as part of the Higher Education Act (HEA) reauthorization process is addressed. These issues have to do with the rising costs of college attendance, their consequent impact on accessibility, and the appropriate federal role, if any, in regulating price increases. As a…

The study uses individual data from the Canadian Labour Force Survey to consider economic factors in university participation decisions by persons aged 17-24 from 1976 to 2003. The level of real tuition is one economic factor that may affect the university participation decision. There is also regional variation in the opportunity cost of…

This article reports the 7-2 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding a Washington state scholarship program that denies aid to theology majors. Disappointing proponents of tuition aid for students in religious schools, the court held that Washington state was well within its rights to exclude students' training for the ministry from its Promise…

This article comments on Fullinwider and Lichtenberg's "Leveling the Playing Field". It reviews their central claims and comments on both their arguments and their reform proposals, and suggests alternative, bolder, egalitarian proposals which involve a higher degree of effective privatization than theirs. (Contains 1 note.)

Responding to Brighouse's comments, we discuss ways that institutions of higher education themselves can increase access for low-income students. We argue for the important role of community colleges and for bridge programs that colleges can establish with middle and high schools to ensure that students take the subjects necessary to prepare them…

Analysis of data from National Education Longitudinal Study found that a third of parents of high school seniors had not begun preparing for college costs and a quarter had begun only recently. Most did not expect savings to cover costs and had investigated financial aid but relatively few had applied. Grants, scholarships, and fellowships were…

Studied factors and characteristics that influence students' likelihood of pursuing postsecondary education through a survey completed by 1,372 high school seniors. Findings show that of the top 10 factors influencing college choice, four were related to cost. (SLD)

A survey of parents of college-bound high school students (1996 and 1997-99) considered separately) found widespread belief that college education is a worthwhile investment for economic and personal reasons, despite high cost. Most could provide cost figures for public colleges. Expected sources for funding college varied. Many save little for…