Parents' and their children's means of paying for college were studied using path analysis to determine if the use of parent contributions, work earnings, or student financial aid has intergenerational effects. The sample consisted of 2,082 student/parent records from the 1990 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study. Actual parent contributions…

The relationship between college costs and family income is examined, along with the debt burden incurred by students while pursuing a postsecondary education. Attention is directed to an analytical model of discretionary income, the families' current income and college costs and how these have changed over the last decade, and general empirical…

The way that college finances vary by student and college characteristics was studied. Attention was directed to the types of institutions and students who benefit from educational assistance programs and the degree these sources of assistance cover the students' educational costs. The data were obtained from the 1982 Cooperative Institutional…

The need for the Ohio Instructional Grants (OIG) Program was significant at its creation and has grown in the initial five years of the program. The report provides background on the need for the program that has been responding to the need of students from low and moderate income families, but has been serving proportionately and absolutely fewer…

As a field test of a new service, nine California state colleges and universities reviewed the kinds of changes they made in reevaluations of family financial strength and contribution. The changes were made as the institutions exercised "professional responsibility to make equitable judgments" in determining student need. (LBH)

Since the early 1980s, college tuitions have soared, and state and federal governments have sought new ways to help students and families meet the costs of attendance. Annual state and federal appropriations to traditional student aid programs have more than doubled in the past two decades. In addition, the federal government created the Hope…

A reanalysis of American College Testing Program data found systematic relationships between student ability, family income, and college choice set characteristics for a general college-bound sample (n=6930) but not for students (n=254) who had applied for financial aid. Implications are drawn for using financial aid to increase student choice of…

To help inform policymakers and the public about the progress of education in the United States, Congress has mandated that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) produce an annual report, "The Condition of Education." This year's report presents 42 indicators on important topics and trends in U.S. education. These…

Changes in participation in five U.S. Department of Education student financial aid programs were assessed for 1974 and 1981. These programs are the National Direct Student Loan (NDSL) program, the College Work Study program, the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) program, the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) program, and the Pell or…

Addresses the need for a national parental loan program proposing that loans up to the amount of the total expected contribution less that portion which can reasonably be expected out of current disposable purchasing power be offered as part of a total financial assistance package. (JT)

The college choices of the academically talented and their financing of college were studied through a 1981 survey of 280 National Merit scholars in Indiana. The influences of college majors, family size and income, parental occupation and education, and national test performance were examined. The Indiana Merit scholars more often majored in…

College tuition is frequently compared, in press and politics, to the US median family income. That is, however, a highly misleading benchmark since schools with need-based financial aid rarely charge students from median income families the reported sticker price. Working from the financial aid records of individual students at twenty-eight…

With increased tuition at medical schools, concern has grown over a decline in the socioeconomic diversity and the academic qualifications of applicants. A study of Georgetown University School of Medicine, with the highest tuition in the United States, indicates that academic and nonacademic characteristics of entering classes have remained…

A recent Department of Education study, developed with the assistance of the Internal Revenue Service, found that of 2.3 million Pell Grants in 1995-96, 102,000 went to students who failed to report or underreported family income. More than 300 recipients had each underreported income by over $100,000. The report comes when the Clinton…

Research on changes in the design of the federal Pell Grant Program between 1973-74 and 1988-89 is reported, with focus on changes in the formulas used to calculate the Student Aid Index and the payment schedule, especially with reference to actual direct and indirect college attendance costs. (Author/MSE)