Rethinking the balance between federal and state responsibilities for supporting colleges and universities and making higher education accessible and affordable for students is important. There is little disagreement about the current education financing system being inadequate. The debate is about the best way to solve the problem. In this…

The federal student aid system has emerged as the primary source of funding for students pursuing a wide range of subbaccalaureate credentials. But the eligibility rules for federal student aid, offered under Title IV of the Higher Education Act, require a minimum program length of 600 hours for Pell grants, despite little evidence showing that…

In most states and in the nation as a whole, the combination of constrained resources and rapid enrollment growth during the Great Recession left a legacy of significantly diminished per-student funding for higher education. Adequate funding is a necessary component of supporting college access and success and meeting state goals for educational…

The national commitment to increasing postsecondary educational attainment, combined with growing economic anxiety, has made community colleges the focus of many federal and state policy initiatives. There is good reason for this: by virtue of their nature and reach, community colleges--public institutions of higher education that predominantly…

The headlines report that college tuition is rising rapidly and students are struggling to pay for college. Financial-aid issues have also been in the news lately, with questions about student debt particularly prominent. Non-tuition revenues are weak because of declining state appropriations, depleted endowments, and anemic annual giving. At the…

This policy brief provides data on enrollments, prices, student characteristics, student aid, and completion rates at for-profit postsecondary institutions. The evidence provided in this paper is intended to inform discussions of the rapid growth of the sector in recent years. (Contains 4 tables, 5 figures and 3 endnotes.)

Concerns about rising tuition and how students can afford to finance their major investments in postsecondary education are widespread. Solid insights into these questions require accurate and up-to-date information about prices. "Trends in College Pricing, 2013" reports on the prices charged by colleges and universities in 2013-14, how…

The published prices on which the analysis in "Trends in College Pricing" is based come from data reported by institutions on the College Board's Annual Survey of Colleges. This survey, which is distributed to nearly 4,000 postsecondary institutions across the country, collects a wealth of data on enrollment, admission, degrees and…

The financial-aid policies and practices of colleges and universities have made too many headlines in recent times to remain the domain of technical experts. Boards of trustees, like other constituencies that are responsible for the health and well-being of postsecondary institutions, should be asking how issues being raised about student…

Widespread concern about the high and rising price of college makes timely data on tuition increases in historical context particularly important. The increase in average published tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities for the 2012-13 academic year is smaller than it has been in recent years--and below the average growth…

Most economists expect the current economic downturn to be one of the most severe since World War II. In fact, there is a very real danger that the changing circumstances of students, families, state and federal governments, and educational institutions could interact to significantly diminish educational opportunity in the United States. The most…

This article discusses the current student-aid system in American higher education and the policy issues surrounding it. The author asserts that it is time to consider serious reform of the complex system of federal, state, and institutional subsidies that has evolved to support postsecondary students. A rational long-term planning process never…

This primer is intended to provide college financial aid professionals with a background in fundamental areas of economics. Its goal is to provide a stronger understanding of the key principles that shape need analysis systems. Part 1 presents basic economic concepts and discusses their application to college enrollment and student aid. These…

Implications for future generations of college loan program changes are examined. The idea of who should pay for college is explored from the perspective of economic theory. It is concluded that new loan programs must be monitored carefully so they do not shift the burden of college payment from parents to students. (MSE)