Community college presidents play a critical role in making decisions that shape the organizational cultures and policies of their institutions. This study explored the perceptions of 15 public community college presidents in Texas. Using focus groups and grounded theory methods, this research applied analytical frameworks focused on human…

The Biden administration is developing regulations around gainful employment (GE) that would protect students from career-oriented college programs that don't adequately serve their students. A draft GE rule released earlier this year would require that graduates of certificate programs at public and nonprofit colleges and nearly all programs at…

Education has been an evolving enterprise since Plato first sat at Socrates' feet. What sets the past few decades apart in the history of education, though, is the rapid pace of change. New technologies, workforce demands, consumer expectations, entrepreneurial innovations and public sensitivity to cost are increasing the pressure for accessible,…

For decades, the federal government has expected vocationally focused programs in higher education, especially among for-profit colleges, to lead to gainful employment in a profession. In the mid-2010s, the U.S. Department of Education developed gainful employment (GE) regulations that sought to tie a program's federal financial aid eligibility to…

As the federal government's role in the student loan industry has expanded over time, the United States has contracted with student loan servicers to help it administer its growing student loan portfolio. These servicers perform a variety of functions, including (1) communicating with borrowers regarding repayment; (2) disclosing information about…

Over the last two decades, prices in higher education have grown more quickly than prices in almost any other sector of the economy. Tuition inflation has been extensively examined. The examinations, however, have focused on a narrow set of explanations, none of which has revealed obvious opportunities for policy interventions that would slow this…

States have always had the ability to regulate institutions conducting instruction or other postsecondary activities in their states. In Fall 2010, a Federal regulation was first released tying institutional and student eligibility for Title IV Federal Financial aid to an institution complying with State laws. Colleges and universities were to be…

In recent years, there has been strong bipartisan interest at the congressional level to require annual federal student loan counseling. Given this interest, and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators' (NASFAAs') commitment to being an active, helpful partner in reauthorization discussions, NASFAA convened a task force…

The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) program makes several types of federal student loans available to individuals to assist them with financing postsecondary education expenses. This report presents a comprehensive overview of the terms and conditions that apply to federal student loans made through the Direct Loan program. It…

In April, 2015 the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) joined a collaboration to assist students whose college or career school closed while they were attending or shortly after they withdrew. This collaboration, a response to the closure of Corinthian College, received hundreds of student inquiries in the first…

It is now widely acknowledged that many for-profit colleges engaged in unsavory practices to maintain the flow of taxpayer dollars. By marketing to veterans and low-income students eligible for the maximum amount of federal financial aid, owners grew their schools rapidly, while overcharging and under-delivering along the way. In many cases, these…

Regular and substantive interaction (RSI) between instructors and students is a core component distinguishing distance education from correspondence education. In contrast to correspondence education where students are not in regular and substantive interaction with instructors, distance education is eligible for Title IV financial aid because of…

The 90/10 rule dictates that no more than 90 percent of institutional revenue at a for-profit college or university (FPCU) can come from Title IV funds. The rule, originally an 85/15 ratio, was introduced in the 1992 amendments to the Higher Education Act and has been debated for 25 years. Proponents argue the rule raises institutional quality by…

Signed under the Obama administration, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) grants a working permit to those who entered the U.S. before age 16, allowing students to enroll at institutions of higher education and join the military. In June 2017, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, John Kelly said that the DACA program would…

For many in the United States, debt is the price of upward mobility. An increasing number of jobs require some college, and wages are higher for people with college degrees. As states cut funding for higher education, colleges have passed the costs on to students. Nationally, 44.2 million people -- one sixth of the population -- hold a total of…