Authored by Dr. Wendy Kilgore and Dr. James Dean Ward, this report delves into the impacts and institutional responses to federal regulations limiting transcript holds for students with unpaid balances. This comprehensive analysis is essential reading for anyone involved in higher education administration. Based on a survey of 326 institutions,…

This report, authored by Dr. Wendy Kilgore, Senior Director of Research at AACRAO, and Dr. James Ward, Principal at Ithaka S+R, provides insights into the impact of state-level transcript hold regulations on higher education institutions and learners. Key findings from the report include: (1) 97% of institutions changed practices or policies after…

Since 1997, education tax benefits have become an increasingly important component of federal higher education policy. For 2023, 11 higher education-related tax benefits are available. After 2025, absent legislative action, this number will effectively increase to 13. Two provisions that are temporarily suspended are scheduled to be…

Higher education took center stage during the Democratic presidential primaries, and congressional leaders in the party are calling for universal student loan forgiveness and tuition-free public college. The incoming Biden administration will thus face pressure to radically expand subsidies for higher education. Conservatives and moderates tend to…

The federal government now offers a multitude of complicated income-driven repayment (IDR) plans that are difficult to understand, enroll in, and stay in. Many students who would benefit from IDR do not enroll, and others will have large amounts of debt forgiven despite earning high wages. The current problems with IDR are not an indictment of the…

In the summer of 2022, New America managed focus groups with almost 50 borrowers from across the country who reported holding federal student debt and defaulting on their loans before the COVID-19 pandemic. Focus group participants felt hopeless about their student loans, and they had good reason to feel this way. They entered the default system,…

Evidence shows that what students study matters as much as, if not more than, where they study. Program-level measures can provide important data on student outcomes, which will allow policymakers to hold institutions and programs that receive federal funding accountable. This fact sheet highlights some of the most frequently discussed measures…

The Biden administration is pursuing two higher education policies through a series of rulemaking processes that aim to make higher education more affordable and less risky for students. One policy focuses on the system's back end by helping students repay their loans, and the other focuses on the front end by cutting off access to federal aid for…

On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden's higher education agenda featured prominent promises to forgive student loan debt and make community college debt free. But as Congress continues to debate these high-profile proposals, Biden's Department of Education has signaled its intent to use a little known yet powerful regulatory process to take…

The College Cost Reduction Act would overhaul the Higher Education Act, making changes to student borrowing and repayment, borrower protections, college oversight, postsecondary data, and more. The bill includes a new proposed risk-sharing model that would require colleges to repay the federal government for a calculated proportion of their…

Rising college prices and student debt, the growth and collapse of online for-profit colleges, and expansions of federal grant, loan, and loan forgiveness policies have increased calls for more accountability in our higher education system. And there is significant consensus among lawmakers that the existing set of quality assurance policies for…

The federal government provides financial assistance to individuals for higher education expenses in two major ways: tax benefits and traditional student aid (loans, grants, and work-study assistance). Since 1997, education tax benefits have become an increasingly important component of federal higher education policy. In 2021, 11 higher…

A college degree or credential is a crucial stepping-stone to the middle class, and American colleges and universities play an essential role in building a more prosperous, equitable country. However, too many colleges routinely and disproportionately enroll students who end up struggling to repay or, worse, default on their student debt. "A…

Background: Nearly two decades have passed since the last successful reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Since then, student loan debt and the accumulation patterns based on race have become a pressing issue to address in U.S. society. Purpose: Student debt is one of the key issues on the federal higher education policy agenda. The…

Policymakers have expressed increased interest in program-level higher education accountability measures as a supplement to, or in place of, institution-level metrics. But it is unclear what these measures should look like. In this report, we assess the ways program-level data could be developed to facilitate federal accountability. Evidence shows…