In 2010, the Obama Administration proposed new regulations designed to hold institutions of higher education (IHEs) accountable for student outcomes. I examine the effects of the regulatory uncertainty surrounding these "Gainful Employment" (GE) regulations on enrollment at for-profit IHEs. I utilize informational debt rates of GE…

The "Statistics report on TEQSA registered higher education providers 2018" (the Statistics Report) is the fifth release of selected higher education sector data held by the Australian Government Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) for its quality assurance activities. It provides a snapshot and time series of…

This chapter explores the lack of data about student veterans and reasons this lack of data raises particular concerns about for-profit institutions, which enroll a large percentage of student veterans.

As the ninth in the "Completing College" series, the report presents the latest information on the six-year completion outcomes of the fall 2014 cohort of beginning college students, nationally and by state, and the eight-year completion outcomes of the fall 2012 cohort of beginning students, through June 2020. The national completion…

Recently released U.S. Department of Education data have revealed new insights into the college outcomes of low-income students. The new data offer some positive news--but they also present warning signs about just how poorly some sectors of higher education are serving students who receive the Pell Grant, the main federal grant offered to…

In 2017, the U.S. Department of Education released groundbreaking data showing that half of Black or African American borrowers who first entered college in the 2003-04 academic year defaulted on their student loans within 12 years. New federal data released this fall show that these numbers have not improved: Black or African American borrowers…

The "Statistics report on TEQSA-registered higher education providers 2019" (the Statistics Report) is the sixth release of selected higher education sector data held by the Australian Government Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) for its quality assurance activities. It provides a snapshot and time series of…

Traditionally seen as a way for institutions to help students alleviate some of the financial demands placed on them, on-campus student employment has several additional benefits institutions can leverage to assist students along their collegiate journey. If designed and operationalized effectively, institutions can use their on-campus student…

This AACRAO "60 Second Survey" asked respondents to identify how, if at all, their institution enables students to indicate their identity preferences--including preferred pronouns, preferred gender, and preferred name. Respondents reporting were from 880 unique institutions representing 16 countries, commonwealths or territories, all 50…

Higher education always seems to be in crisis. Governments, foundations, professional associations, and the occasional scornful professor all tend to lament one or another problem plaguing America's colleges and universities. The more apocalyptic claims state that the United States is a "nation at risk," that our students' minds have…

This essay examines normative aspects of the gainful employment rule and how the policy frame and image miss important implications for student aid policy. Because the economic and social burdens associated with the policy are typically borne by certain socioeconomic and ethnic groups, the policy frame and image do not identify possible negative…

This is an update to the report "Deeper in Debt: Women and Student Loans." Americans today carry $1.54 trillion in student loan debt. That number has more than doubled over the last decade--increasing at nearly six times the rate of inflation. Women are particularly burdened, holding nearly two-thirds of all outstanding loans--around…

For-profit colleges have been dismissed by community college administrators and faculty as imperfect institutions that focus too heavily on skills-based training, to the detriment of a well-rounded academic experience. Although there are many appropriate criticisms of an educational model that relies on federal funding to make a profit--while…

The federal government's role in supporting higher education touches nearly every aspect of the work performed by American colleges and universities. Federal authorities control an immense amount of public resources that are used to strategically exert influence across a complex and differentiated postsecondary system. This report is intended to…

Student college loan default rates have nearly doubled in recent years. The three-year default rate exceeds 13 percent nationally. Tracking and reporting default rates is a crucial means of monitoring how well higher education dollars are spent. Yet, the way default data is gathered, measured, and reported by the federal government clouds…