Background/Context: Sub-baccalaureate certificates can provide an accelerated pathway to gainful employment for the unemployed or underemployed. Certificates represented only 6% of postsecondary awards in 1980, but today they represent 22% of all credentials awarded and have superseded associate's and master's degrees as the second most common…

Comparisons with other parts of the United Kingdom have played an important role in justifying decisions made in relation to student funding in Scotland since devolution. This article considers first what comparative claims have been made for the content of student funding policy in four areas: fees, debt, total living cost support and…

Many studies conducted on the Higher Education Students Loans Board (HESLB) have mostly concentrated on its success, sustainability and effectiveness on loans issuance and repayment. None had focused on its performance towards human capital investment. This study sought to explain and analyze HESLB's performance in human capital investment, which…

College is getting harder to afford every year. Debt mounts and jobs, especially in certain industries, don't necessarily provide the financial return they once did. It should come as no surprise to administrators that students and families are feeling the pinch. Rather than ignore the problem, higher education leaders, policymakers, and others…

Policy makers and state representatives have claimed that, compared to the traditional path to a four-year degree, a course of study that begins in the 2-year sector provides a more affordable option. If this is true, then all else equal, 2-year students who obtained a 4-year degree would be expected to have acquired less student loan debt. To…

Education provides one of the best opportunities for American children to build the capacity to climb up the economic ladder. It has even been called the "great equalizer" in American society. In today's tightened labor market, providing equal access to postsecondary education is more critical than ever. The Georgetown Center on…

Both federal spending on financial aid and student loan default rates have increased over the past decade. These trends have intensified policymakers' concerns that some postsecondary institutions-- particularly in the for-profit sector--maximize revenue derived from federal financial aid without helping students to graduate or find employment.…

The New Careers in Nursing (NCIN) Alumni Survey was designed to advance knowledge in the field of nursing education by looking at post-degree experiences of NCIN scholarship recipients, such as employment and graduate degree attainment. The NCIN Alumni Study also focused on the reflections of NCIN scholars who have graduated and moved into the…

Over the past five years, the number of complaints filed against agencies collecting on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education has grown by 45 percent. The Federal Trade Commission, which oversees the entire industry, received 142,743 complaints involving debt-collection companies last year, though only some involved student loans. Consumer…

This study updates and expands the literature on student loan default. By applying multilevel regression to the Beginning Postsecondary Students survey, four key findings emerge. First, attending proprietary institutions is strongly associated with default, even after accounting for students' socioeconomic and academic backgrounds. Second,…

Workplace absenteeism has widely been reported to be a serious problem which undermines smooth service delivery both in developed and developing nations. The problem is reported to be more serious in developing nations. This paper is therefore studying the mechanisms used to mitigate workplace absenteeism, their adequacy and the effective…

When students or recent graduates come to talk with Anthony M. Sozzo, an associate dean for student affairs at New York Medical College, about repaying their federal loans, he sometimes struggles with what to tell them. He states that the answers are increasingly being complicated by an ever-expanding federal loan-servicing system. The number of…

Teaching mathematics associated with the repaying of loans has always been an awkward task--it seems superficially easy, but it contains pitfalls both for the learner and for the unwary teacher. This short article reviews some of the mathematics, and notes an interesting result.

The recent significant increase in student loan delinquencies has generated interest in understanding the key factors predicting the non-performance of these loans. However, despite the large size of the student loan market, existing analyses have been limited by lack of data. This paper studies predictors of student loan delinquencies using a…

This paper examines current part-time mature learners' views on the potential impact upon future students as full fees are introduced from 2012. It investigates the problems which part-time mature learners may face with the advent of student loans and subsequent debt, given that they are usually combining complex lives with their studies, with…