This testimony before the House Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education addresses the need for improving student financial aid programs administered by the Department of Education, and in particular, the Stafford Student Loan Programs. The testimony begins with a brief review of the default problems involving student loans. Next, an examination is…

Forces threatening the fundamental principles and practices of student financial aid are examined, and some advice to the profession is offered. A large dedicated profession has emerged that is skilled at bringing together students, colleges, and resources. (MLW)

This study evaluated whether the use of educational loans has an impact upon student choice of majors. In addition, the study demonstrated that the statistical technique of two-stage least squares can be appropriately used with educational data when reciprocal causation exists in the theoretical model. It was hypothesized that, since a majority of…

The impact of receiving undergraduate student loans on attending graduate school was studied using the data base of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. Information from a base-year survey conducted in spring 1972 and three followup surveys conducted in fall 1973, 1974, and 1976 was used. Approximately 20,000 students…

Recent efforts of the World Bank to improve global economic problems are described, issues which will influence the role of the World Bank in the decade to come are discussed, and the Bank's future role is examined. Recent World Bank efforts to help developing nations include a lending program, project investments, analytical and advisory work,…

The impact of federal student aid programs on higher education and policy implications are discussed. Historical information on federal aid is presented. Large amounts of federal support are devoted to student assistance funding, which is channeled into the institutions in the form of tuition or housing costs. The student aid programs are designed…

A series of recommendations is presented for reducing default rates in the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) program. First, a summary is provided of trends toward the increasing dependence of students on loans to finance their college education and the large and growing default rate among borrowers. Next, four issues are discussed: Should lenders…

Basic information about the federal Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) program, including its status and the level of participation, is presented, and policy issues concerning cost, equity, efficiency, and administration are also identified. After specifying six criteria for evaluating options for change in the program, specific options are listed…

The history of the interrelation among state approval, accreditation, and institutional eligibility is considered. It is suggested that faculty and college administrators can be either an internal or external group in relationship to the planning process. The federal government, or the state government, passes legislation that may have both…

This study explored the role of financial aid in promoting year-to-year persistence over a five-year period following reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in 1992. The study cohort included 6,711 full-time beginning freshmen in the fall 1993/1994 terms at Arizona State University. Variables examined were (1) effects of receiving any…

Some of the faults and values implied by present methods of financing higher education are examined, and new financial arrangements are proposed. Problems with the current system include: the price to the consumer of higher education in relation to its cost of production, tuition gaps among schools, and evaluating the price in relation to value of…

This study examined effects of increased availability of undergraduate student loan funds under the Higher Education Act Amendments of 1992. It studied the effects of price variables and accumulated debt on student persistence decisions using data from the National Student Postsecondary Aid 1992-93 and 1995-96 Surveys. For two-year college…

The financial condition of independent colleges of Kentucky and eight state universities and the community colleges taken as a unit were studied. Data for the five-year study period 1971-72 to 1975-76 was obtained from forms of the Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) and reports of the Kentucky Council on Higher Education and the…

The failure of students to repay federally insured loans has led to an increased emphasis on default prevention and threatens institutions with high default rates with exclusion from federal student aid programs. Prior studies of default prevention using theoretical constructs based on economics, sociology, and psychology have yielded mixed…

This study examined college graduates' earnings and indebtedness one year after graduation. First, data from the first follow-up of the Baccalaureate & Beyond study (which followed a nationally representative sample of baccalaureate graduates from 1993) were used to describe the earnings distribution of full-time workers from various academic…