The federal role in higher education has grown over the past two decades, and now a new administration has the opportunity to strengthen policies that support students and their colleges and universities. To help inform these decisions, the Urban Institute convened a bipartisan group of scholars and policy advisers to write a series of memos…

Student debt is a convenient target in a presidential election year, but it obscures the true crisis: high dropout rates from low-quality postsecondary institutions and the unmanageable debt borne by students of those institutions. And despite rising student debt, monthly loan payments as a share of income have remained steady, added earnings…

This document contains administrative and public witness testimony and prepared statements from the Congressional hearing on the tax refund offset program. Descriptions of the child support enforcement program and of S. 150 (the Collection of Student Loans in Default Act of 1983) are presented. The testimony and prepared statements by…

Insurance premiums being charged to borrowers under the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) program were studied to determine if the rate exceeded the rate necessary to protect the reserves of the insurer. Attention was directed to whether historical changes in the GSL program have affected insurance premiums. Guaranty agency's sources and uses of funds…

This report proposes reform recommendations in the Federal Student Loan Program that are intended to reduce government (and taxpayer) costs, allow for the incorporation of the National Service Initiative, and provide more flexible repayment terms for borrowers. The proposal provides for an evaluation period for direct government lending, the…