Community college students face a number of financial decisions and obligations along the path to degree completion. Students must secure resources to pay for college expenses, including their tuition, fees, and basic living necessities. Central to this is students' abilities to access financial aid resources including federal, state, and…

Since the Student Education Loan Fund (SELF) Loan program's inception in 1984, over 250,000 students have received more than $2 billion in SELF Loans to pursue their postsecondary education (Minnesota Office of Higher Education, 2014a). The SELF Loan program provides undergraduate and graduate students with long-term, low-interest educational…

"Excelencia" in Education accelerates Latino student success in higher education to address the U.S. economy's need for a highly educated workforce for civic leadership. Policy must keep up with our country's changing demographics to serve students. This compilation includes fact sheets covering Excelencia's four policy priorities:…

Finding the funds to attend college often means that many students must acquire loan debt through financial aid. This confusing but critically necessary process can influence college planning and enrollment decisions, post-college employment, and other important life choices, such as enrolling in graduate school, buying a home, or getting married.…

The State constitution and state statutes require Nebraska's Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education to review the budget requests of the University of Nebraska, the Nebraska State College System, and the community colleges in light of specific criteria set forth in the statutes. The Commission also makes recommendations on major…

The cost of a college degree is an enormous challenge for many students. Not only has tuition increased across the country in response to state disinvestment in higher education, but the additional costs associated with attending college (including books and supplies, transportation, and living expenses that can exceed $19,000 annually) present…

This report details the amount of student loans by institution type and award type (the type of postsecondary credential, e.g., a certificate or bachelor's degree), along with the percentage of graduates with loans for the 2011-12 to 2015-16 academic years. The Office surveyed degree-granting Minnesota institutions to obtain median cumulative…

This report, the seventh in this series, brings together again in partnership the Pell Institute with the Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy of the University of Pennsylvania (PennAHEAD). These reports draw from multiple sources of existing data to provide, in one place, indicators that describe trends in equity in postsecondary…

The State of Student Aid and Higher Education in Texas (SOSA) annual report from Trellis Research provides information helpful in informing policy and programs for higher education student financial aid. The report serves as a reference for colleges, universities, and policymakers, and provides a comparison of Texas state and federal student aid…

Statistics in Brief publications present descriptive data in tabular formats to provide useful information to a broad audience, including members of the general public. They address simple and topical issues and questions. Using data from 2011-12, this Statistics in Brief updates and expands on a previous National Center for Education Statistics…

For the institution and its regional campuses under review, the amount of outstanding student liabilities (i.e., monies owed by the student to the institution for educational-related expenditures not satisfied by the end of the term) grew at an alarming rate between 2000 and 2014, with some of the institution's regional campuses experiencing over…

This issue of "Policy Insights" reviews the results of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education's annual survey of tuition and fees at public colleges and universities in the WICHE region and discusses related policy implications. (Data from the survey were published in November 2016.) Overall, tuition and fees in the WICHE…

This Model State Policy Agenda aims to provide National College Access Network (NCAN) members and partners, particularly those in networks or coalitions, with a guide to develop their own policy goals. This publication discusses affordability of higher education and talent development of students.

"On the Verge: Costs and Tradeoffs Facing Community College Students" documents California community college students' struggles to cover college expenses beyond tuition, their experiences with financial aid, and the troubling tradeoffs they face when available resources do not stretch far enough. Consistent with a growing body of…

To better understand student debt in Minnesota, the Minnesota Office of Higher Education (the Office) gathers information on cumulative student loan debt from Minnesota degree-granting institutions. These data detail the number of students with loans by institution, the cumulative student loan debt incurred at that institution, and the percentage…