Current policies and interventions to enhance student success and retention are often tied to full-time enrollment, which are substantiated by studies associating part-time enrollment with lower retention and poorer academic outcomes. However, these findings are limited to studies of first-time college students and do not represent today's…

In this study I deployed quasi-experimental methods to explore enrollment responses to a unique statewide college promise program for adult students attending college within the two-year public postsecondary education sector in Tennessee. State policymakers implemented Tennessee Reconnect in 2018 to encourage adult students without a college…

As statewide college promise programs continue to develop, emerging equity concerns necessitate interrogating whom programs benefit and how expense funds can be applied. Critical Policy Analysis (CPA) is used in this chapter to understand how statewide promise programs advance or hinder racial equity across eligibility and financial aid support…

The United States (US) does not formally count, recognize, or support students in higher education who are caregivers, unlike England and Australia. This mixed-methods study presents results from a new survey of caregiving undergraduate and graduate students at a large university in the US. Students (N = 7592; 62.7% White, 69.9% women) reported…

The relevance of the chosen topic is due to the present rise of humanity to a new wave of scientific and technological progress, which is based on various achievements in high technologies of informatics, microelectronics, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, space exploration, etc. In these conditions, the education sector, which acts as a…

Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education, ensures that all eligible Americans benefit from federal financial assistance--grants, loans, and work-study programs for education beyond high school. By championing the promise of postsecondary education, the office upholds its value as a force for greater inclusion in American…

Military service members, veterans, and certain dependents and survivors can receive financial support for postsecondary education and technical training. Veterans' educational benefits can include tuition and fees, housing allowances, and stipends for books and supplies (Radford 2011; Radford et al. 2016). Veterans' education benefits are…

This report presents a comparative overview of the main features of national student fee and financial support systems in European higher education in the 2020/21 academic year. It provides insights on whether any fees are charged to students in higher education, which students may have to pay such fees and how much. It also presents public…

While the Pell Grant covers a substantial proportion of college tuition for low-income students, it has covered only two full-time semesters per year and has not included any support for summer courses through most of its history. As research has shown that continuous enrollment throughout the year increases college persistence and completion, the…

This report is the latest in a series of studies by the Center for an Urban Future focused on building a more inclusive economy in New York. It is informed by interviews with over 50 experts in college persistence and basic needs access--including staff at community-based organizations (CBOs), faculty and administrators at the City University of…

Free college programs have been around for some time, but they have proliferated in recent years, prompted by rising college costs, mounting student debt, and the United States' urgent need for a more educated workforce. But while these free college, or "promise" programs have the potential to make a higher education more affordable and…

The majority of freshmen entering California State University (CSU) system graduate, but most do not do so within four years. Graduating later has many costs--from the tuition and associated costs for extra years of schooling to forgoing years of entering the workforce--and students from low-income families as well as students of color are more…

This annual report shows how fee and support systems (including grants and loans) interact in higher education in Europe. It provides both a comparative overview and individual country sheets outlining the main elements of national systems. In particular, the publication describes the range of fees charged to students, specifying the categories of…

Recently released U.S. Department of Education data have revealed new insights into the college outcomes of low-income students. The new data offer some positive news--but they also present warning signs about just how poorly some sectors of higher education are serving students who receive the Pell Grant, the main federal grant offered to…

How can community colleges support students' goals of finding success in the workforce, both today and the future? This issue brief builds upon the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) previously published report "Partnerships for a Future-Ready Workforce" (2018) (ED605153). This brief is the first in a four-part series that…