Pell eligibility for incarcerated people is a great rehabilitative opportunity, but several challenges remain. This article recaps five of the issues identified by the original research articles in this special issue. It also considers how solutions proposed in these studies may be beneficial across a variety of these issues and gathers…

New Jersey's state grant program delivers the highest level of need-based aid per student in the country. And the state's major grant program, the Tuition Aid Grant (TAG), funds all eligible students, rather than excluding students when the funding runs out. But different levels of grant aid for enrollment in different institutions within sectors,…

There is a widening college access gap in the United States. The ever-rising cost of higher education, coupled with diminished government financial support and growing income inequality, have put college out of reach for many at a critical juncture when postsecondary education is essential for enhancing career prospects. The situation has been…

Gaps in average college success among students of differing backgrounds have persisted in the United States for decades. One of the primary ways governments have attempted to ameliorate such gaps is by providing need-based grants, but little evidence exists on the impacts of such aid on longer-term outcomes such as college persistence and degree…

The 2013 study, "Looking Beyond Enrollment: The Causal Effect of Need-Based Grants on College Access, Persistence, and Graduation," examined whether eligibility for the Florida Student Access Grant (FSAG), a need-based grant for low-income students in Florida, affects college enrollment, credit accumulation, persistence over time in…

Examines both a hypothetical and an actual expansion of New York State's direct tuition grants program in higher education. For both, the resulting redistribution of financing appears favorable to the lowest income groups but leads to only modest gains in enrollment levels. (Author/RW)

The Task Force on Student Financial Aid was formed to recommend ways in which Massachusetts' student aid programs might be modified in light of nationwide trends of rising college costs, reduced availability of federal student assistance, and a decline in the ability of many families to pay for college. The first chapter of the task force report,…

Student financial aid is a major education industry. Three papers by educational professionals are presented as points of comparison. "Student Financial Aid Policies and Programs in Texas and California: A Comparison" (Stephen Janes) states that Texas and California have much in common; demographics in the two states are not radically…