For decades, the cost of serving college students, from community colleges to Ivy League institutions, has been a barrier that has blocked access for many who want an education. With a recent massification effort aimed at producing more college graduates for the workplace, the enrollment numbers have increased and student debt load has become a…

Growing numbers of colleges and universities, as well as independent schools, are targeting parents, grandparents, and other nonalumni friends for gifts to meet institutional needs and, at many public institutions, replace appropriations lost to Draconian state cuts. Such efforts have taken root despite parents shouldering ever-climbing college…

The White House will soon unveil a final version of its "college scorecard"--an online tool giving college-bound students and their families a hype-free snapshot of reliable information about any U.S. campus: real costs, graduation rates, student debt statistics, and earning potential of graduates. The college scorecard is a good idea…

Student parents face many challenges to accessing, persisting, and completing postsecondary education. While some of these challenges are unique to student parents--such as finding quality child care during class and work hours and juggling studying and academic assignments with parenting duties--others are typical of low-income and underserved…

In today's tough economy, students and parents alike are looking for ways to save on college tuition. With sticker prices well into the tens of thousands per year at any private liberal-arts institution, the prospect of shaving a year off the typical four-year journey is an added attraction at a number of colleges, like Franklin & Marshall,…

In making decisions about college, it is essential that students and parents focus on net price, which is the dollar amount that must be paid after subtracting financial assistance from cost of attendance. A net price calculator is one of two financial aid tools designed to provide students and parents with accurate and timely information about…

The American higher education system is plagued by two chronic problems: dropouts and debt. Barely half of the students who start college get a degree within six years, and graduation rates at less-selective colleges often hover at 25 percent or less. At the same time, student loan debt is at an all-time high, recently passing credit card debt in…

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is completed by students annually to determine eligibility for federal student financial aid. This report describes FAFSA completion outcomes for AISD seniors in 2011.

Britain's universities are going through another period of reform, although in reality it might be better to describe current conditions as the latest stage of a permanent revolution that began some forty years ago. This time, however, there is a very real possibility that the new cost-cutting coalition government will inflict lasting and serious…

Governments worldwide face the challenge of financing a growing student population with limited resources, especially in the current context of difficult economic recovery. Student loan schemes, because they appear as cost-efficient and are defendable on the lines of social equity (students invest in their future), are increasingly politically…

Given the overarching ramifications that financial literacy plays in the modern economy, this paper contends that a renewed emphasis on financial literacy is central to individual, family and communal economic security. New responsibilities and opportunities given to consumers, such as retirement planning, have increased the need for more…

Shifting demographics, rising costs of operations, a changing competitive landscape, reductions in state appropriations, pressures for accountability, and a widespread economic decline characterize the environment in which today's colleges and universities operate. This article examines some of the current responses to these challenges and…

Woodbridge Senior High School, known as "the Bridge," serves a diverse community. Located in Prince William County, in Virginia, the high school lies about 20 miles south of Washington. Teenagers here are less likely than those in Virginia's affluent northern suburbs to aspire to top-25 colleges. Nonetheless, a higher education is a…

Tuition just about always moves in the same direction: up. So wouldn't it be great if students could lock in tuition at their college and know they will pay the same amount for four years? Some colleges have tried the strategy only to find it hard to convince families that it's a good idea. Just last week, the Georgia Board of Regents voted to…

The Chinese news media have a name for the craze that has gripped students here in the past few years: "overseas-study fever." And despite the worsening global financial crisis and a slowing domestic economy, it shows little sign of letting up. Recruiters say a high household savings rate, a difficult job market, and a steady currency,…