A new federal requirement that states provide consistent spending for higher education may not yet have much effect. As state budgets sour and colleges brace for cuts, only one state seems likely to have run afoul of the new rules this year, according to a "Chronicle" analysis of available data on state higher-education spending. Under…

Federal student aid comes from the federal government--specifically, the U.S. Department of Education. It's money that helps a student pay for higher education expenses (i.e., college, career school, or graduate school expenses). Federal student aid covers such expenses as tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and transportation.…

The Federal Pell Grant Program is a critical source of grant aid for many low-and moderate-income college students. Over the past decade, the federal government has expanded the program to serve more students, increasing the maximum level of each award to $5,550 and better ensuring college access and success. However, the House 2012 budget…

On March 16, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order (EO) 13506 establishing the White House Council on Women and Girls (Council) for the purpose of providing a "coordinated Federal response to issues that particularly impact the lives of women and girls... [and] to ensure that Federal programs and policies address and take into account…

Making Pell Grants an entitlement and tying the maximum award to a measure of inflation, as President Obama has proposed, would probably yield larger awards and stop the cycle of shortfalls that have plagued the program. The president's plan, which would index the maximum award to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus one percentage point, probably…

When Ph.D. science and health researchers are seeking financial support for their health science studies, more often than not they apply to the federal government's National Institutes of Health (NIH) for an RO1 research grant, which boosts a project's standing in the research community as well as the career of the applicant. Even before the NIH…

Community colleges across the country are engaged in large-scale federal and state initiatives to train low-income individuals for the nascent field that's become known as "green jobs." Many green economy advocates believe that green jobs training can be part of career pathways that help move unemployed and disconnected individuals--who are often…

In a move that could reshape academic assessment in nearly every corner of the country, the U.S. Department of Education has awarded $330 million in grants to collaboratives of states to design better ways of measuring student learning. The grants, awarded Sept. 2, went to two groups of states that sought the money under the federal Race to the…

Large numbers of schools across the country are low performing and have been for years. This longstanding and widespread problem painfully reveals that individual schools are not the only ones responsible for their performance. The public school system as a whole is unable, and sometimes unwilling, to address the root causes of dysfunction.…

With current tuition increases at more than double the rate of inflation and cuts in state funding and Pell Grant programs, students and their families are being squeezed financially. The purpose of this study was to uncover access and funding issues by displaying current year and future year predictions for all access sectors including community…

The College Access Challenge Grant (CACG) Program is a federal formula grant designed to foster partnerships among federal, state, and local governments and philanthropic entities to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. Created by the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007, the…

The Department of Justice (DOJ) estimates that the United States has about a million gang members. While state and local agencies have primary responsibility for combating gang crime, the federal government has key roles to enforce laws and help fund programs to provide alternatives to gang membership for at-risk youth. GAO was asked to examine…

The U.S. Department of Education is proposing high hurdles for school districts and nonprofit groups that want a piece of the $650 million Investing in Innovation grant program, including evidence of past success in helping students most in need and significant financial commitments from the private sector. The grants, which are meant to expand…

During President Barack Obama's first two years in office, the administration's signature education initiative has been the Race to the Top (RTT) fund, a small part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that was passed to stimulate the nation's ailing economy. While celebrations and criticisms of RTT abound, serious attempts to…

The purpose of the United States Department of Education's (the Department) Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 "Agency Financial Report" (AFR) is to inform Congress, the President, and the American people on how the Department has used the federal resources entrusted to it to promote achievement and preparedness of students entering a global…