Completing college is now the minimum threshold for entry into the middle class. This has pushed college readiness issues to the forefront in efforts to increase educational attainment. Little is known about how college readiness improves outcomes for students traditionally marginalized in educational settings or if social background factors…

We all want Texas kids to have a bright future, but Texas is consistently ranked in the bottom ten states for child well-being. Texas decision makers must create policies that improve conditions for all Texas kids and put them on the road to success. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Texas ranks 43rd in overall child well-being (based on…

The level of education spending may not only be determined by a school district's characteristics, but also by the characteristics of neighboring school districts. To properly evaluate these impacts, I use the Lesage and Pace (2009) approach which develops summary impact measures for inference on statistical significance. This article is the first…

Children in communities across Colorado--whether large or small, rural or urban, on the Eastern Plains or the Western Slope--face opportunities and obstacles to reaching their full potential. While some challenges are similar, many are very different depending on the community environment and the resources available to support children and…

In 2007-08, approximately 21 million students were enrolled in undergraduate postsecondary education in the United States. These Web Tables provide a comprehensive source of information on financial aid that was awarded to undergraduate students during the 2007-08 academic year. Included are estimates of tuition, price of attendance, and financial…

Regional and state demographic profiles highlight social, economic, and educational characteristics of the Appalachian states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Data from 1979-82 are summarized and presented in charts, tables, and graphs. Regional and state social and economic profiles include population, urban/rural population,…

The Ohio Instructional Grant Program is a financial aid program designed to assist low- and middle-income students who are enrolled for full-time undergraduate study in eligible Ohio institutions of higher education. The funds are intended to supplement other financial resources including parental income as well as the student's own financial…

This study examined the changing social and economic impact of college attendance in Pennsylvania between 1980 and 1990. It is based on a sample of over 500,000 census interviews. The study found that, in general, individuals who attended and finished college will marry other individuals who went to college, and that both parents will work and…

A survey of 130 trustees, presidents, and other higher education executives found that they ranked public opinion toward higher education, changing demographics, and family income and savings rates as the top external trends in higher education. The top-ranked institutional issues included tuition policy and financing; productivity and cost…

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. Breaking the inter-generational transmission of poverty requires far-reaching actions in the education sector. Widespread poverty affects both students' performance and their availability to attend…

These six research papers were presented as public lectures: "Federal Child Care Policy" (David M. Blau) outlined the role of the federal government in child care, the failure of market-based care programs, and the ideal goals of a federal child care policy as well as its cost (4 tables; 41 references); "Thinking About Child Care…