If the United States is to succeed as a nation in reducing educational disparity, restoring social mobility, and retaining national competitiveness, it must make every effort to ensure that low-income and first-generation students have access to higher education and the support systems they need to obtain a college degree. This objective will…

Lack of financial resources to pay for postsecondary education--perceived and actual--has been cited as a barrier to student access and persistence, particularly for Latino students. This study investigates the following question: "To what extent does financial aid affect the educational attainment of Latinos enrolled in Associate's degree…

Postsecondary early awareness strategies are a fast-growing component of college access to attainment efforts. Broadly defined, these programs and policies encourage low-income and first-generation students to gain the information, skills, and resources they need to successfully take part in higher education. They focus on students in fifth…

Higher education is the state's road to jobs and prosperity. No entity in state government can help Oklahoma reach its goals of educational excellence and workforce development faster or more comprehensively than public higher education. More college graduates means an increase in our state's per capita income and a stronger state economy. This…

"Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators" is the authoritative source for information on the state of education around the world. It provides data on the structure, finances and performance of education systems in the 35 OECD and a number of partner countries. With more than 100 charts and tables, Education at a Glance 2018 imparts key…

The purposes of this equity indicators project are to: (1) report the status of higher education equity in the United States and identify changes over time in measures of equity; (2) identify policies and practices that promote and hinder progress; and (3) illustrate the need for increased support of policies, programs, and practices that not only…

We exploit the Youth in Transition Survey, Cohort A, to investigate access and barriers to postsecondary education (PSE). We first look at how access to PSE by age 21 is related to family characteristics, including family income and parental education. We find that the effects of the latter significantly dominate those of the former. Among the 25%…

Responsibility for meeting the costs of higher education in England has moved inexorably away from the government toward the family with the introduction of tuition fee and maintenance loans. Although an important public policy issue, there is limited research on how the policy impinges on the private sphere of the family. This paper focuses on…

Student feedback is an essential component of a high-quality, relevant education system. BC Student Outcomes provides that feedback by surveying former post-secondary students who took baccalaureate programs, apprenticeship technical training, and diploma, certificate, or associate degree programs. In 2015, almost 28,000 former students were…

The stratification of opportunities and disparate outcomes for Black and Latino boys and men has been well documented. However, there remains a lack of awareness about the extent to which these issues are relevant for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. This brief focuses on key status and leading indicators for the mobility…

This report, the sixth in this series, brings together again in partnership the Pell Institute with the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy of the University of Pennsylvania (PennAHEAD). These reports draw from multiple sources of existing data to provide, in one place, indicators that describe trends in equity in postsecondary enrollment,…

This study estimates the extent that state financial support for higher education raises college attainment. Despite its manifest importance for policy, this is the first study to estimate this effect directly. Many studies have estimated the effect of college price on attendance, but state support for higher education and college price do not…

While it's known that education leads to better jobs and higher income, research also shows strong links between education and longevity, reduced risk of illness, and increased vitality and school success for future generations. Yet, changing demographic trends and rising college costs portend poorly for health. This brief examines the role that…

This article paints a comprehensive portrait of the demographic, financial, and educational characteristics of Pennsylvania postsecondary students who are adult learners, and identifies rural-urban differences within this group. The study analyzed data from the 2010-11 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (n = 610,925), supplemented by…

This report, "Access to Attainment: An Access Agenda for 21st Century College Students," examines the challenges facing 21st century students and presents strategies for addressing these challenges through policy-and practice-based solutions at the institutional, state and national levels. Recommendations include implementing a…