Federal Work-Study (FWS) funding provides opportunities for campus-based employment to students as a way to pay for their college expenses. This issue of "DataPoints" finds community colleges receive only 18 percent of Federal Work-Study funds from the $1 billion appropriated to the program.

The higher education system in America is in need of significant reform. Twin challenges of high cost and low quality require attention from federal policymakers--who oversee tens of billions in federal aid to colleges and universities annually. In recent years, some policymakers, most notably during the Obama Administration, have singled out…

This updated TICAS (The Institute for College Access & Success) analysis finds that low-income students and families actually pay less to attend each of the nine University of California (UC) campuses than they would at Cal State (CSU) or California Community Colleges (CCC) in the same region.

The federal Pell Grant was designed to help low-income students pay for college. But over the past two decades, a growing share of middle-income students have become eligible for the program. This was not policymakers' explicit goal. This report examines how the program came to increasingly provide students from middle-income families with grants,…

State-level postsecondary policymaking is daunting. Policymakers navigate through myriad fiscal, political, and ideological constraints and opportunities as they strive to address pressing state concerns or goals. While researchers and advocates may point to "perfect" policy models, in reality perfect policy does not exist. All…

The Tuition and Fee Report is produced annually by the Colorado Department of Higher Education to provide detailed information on the tuition and fee rates at Colorado's public institutions, as well as to give context regarding the state funding environment in which tuition and fee rate-setting occurs. Colorado has mirrored national trends over…

Approximately 4.2 million youth and young adults experience homelessness on their own every year. These young people -- referred to as "unaccompanied homeless youth" under federal education law -- face unique barriers to accessing and completing higher education. Unaccompanied homeless youth are not living with, or supported by, a parent…

Differences by race and ethnicity exist in student borrowing trends, as decades of research and statistics on debt, repayment, and default rates have well established. Students who are Black, Hispanic or Latino, and Native American tend to have higher unmet financial need, incur more debt, and struggle financially to stay in school. Yet, even as…

As our country is on the brink of a new presidential administration and new Congress, amid a global pandemic, the importance of investing in and strengthening our nation's postsecondary education system has never been more important. Concerns over college access, affordability, and transparency are colliding with the growing demand in the…

This brief explores forces that have affected college tuition over the postwar period. College costs, general subsidies, and changes in the national distribution of income have all affected the trajectory of college tuition over time. The idea that more generous federal grants and loans cause upward pressure on list-price tuition has only been…

Some of the biggest debtors in the twenty-first century are not small business owners or first-time homeowners, but rather university students who take out massive debt in the belief that it is an investment in their future. Like housing loans before the Global Financial Crisis, student loan debt is today being packaged and re-packaged into exotic…

At the start of 2019, 7 million U.S. jobs remained unfilled, and American employers consistently cite trouble finding qualified workers. While some liberals insist a "skills gap" doesn't exist, all evidence points to the contrary. These gaps are moreover made worse by a higher education system that ill-equips graduates for the workforce.…

W.S. 21-18-202 (h)(iii) mandates that the Wyoming Community College Commission (WCCC) develop performance benchmarks, outcome measures and other performance indicators which serve as the basis for annual reporting to the Wyoming Legislature and the Governor. The annual reporting must include, but is not limited to, the following measures: (1)…

This edition of "Playing the Numbers" reports on recent trends in a few key measures related to postsecondary education. Among the trends examined will be key issues of educational attainment, participation, and finance and affordability. Moreover, given the critical role of the states in the delivery of postsecondary education, it will…

As the price of college continues to rise and students find themselves deeper in debt, Americans are clamoring for ways to reduce their out-of-pocket college costs and debt. Some lawmakers have proposed removing the cost of college tuition as a solution. However, this brief argues three points: (1) U.S. policymakers should be wary of countries…