This guide is intended for college financial aid administrators and counselors who help students begin the aid process--filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form, verifying information, and making corrections and other changes to the information reported on the FAFSA. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the…

The Department of Education's (Education) process for obtaining Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) is not clear to borrowers. Established in 2007, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program forgives federal student loans for borrowers who work for certain public service employers for at least 10 years while making…

Student debt cancellation must be a federal priority for the new administration. As the devastating health and economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic deepens, millions of student borrowers are held back by high levels of debt on top of job losses and the struggle to cover their basic needs. The pause on payments is only a temporary fix. Since…

Postsecondary education is a key pathway to economic mobility for many Americans, but financial challenges often make it difficult for learners to pursue and complete their education. Obtaining financing for postsecondary education can be a barrier to access for some students. The process is complicated, and many programs are ineligible for…

This article estimates the effects on depressive symptoms, family relationships, social support, and academic self-efficacy of participating in a forgivable loan program, using an instrumental variable (IV) estimation strategy. In particular, we estimate local average treatment effects (LATE) of program participation on these variables, using…

In recent decades, several dozen colleges and universities have instituted loan-reduction initiatives (LRIs), such as "no-loan" programs. Institutions frequently cast such initiatives as efforts to increase socioeconomic diversity on campus. Using a difference-in-differences analytic strategy with national institution-level data, we…

Educators are faced with increasing student loan debt, increasing costs of becoming a teacher, and stagnant teacher salaries. Research suggests that the structural elements of the student loan system, including systemic barriers, may act as deterrents, preventing access and opportunity, especially in the teaching profession. The profession needs…

To help students and their families pay for higher education, the Department of Education provides billions of dollars in federal student loans each year through programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended. Graduate students have been eligible for Graduate PLUS (Grad PLUS) loans to help finance their…

In academic year (AY) 2018-2019, approximately 6,400 institutions of higher education (IHEs), enrolling about 26.5 million postsecondary education students, participated in the federal student aid programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA; P.L. 89-329, as amended). These IHEs ranged in sector, size, and…

This article develops and tests an identity-based account of malfeasance in consumer markets. It is hypothesized that multi-brand organizational structures help predatory firms short-circuit reputational discipline by rendering their underlying identities opaque to consumer audiences. The analysis utilizes comprehensive administrative data on all…

In response to the current Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, numerous questions have arisen regarding student loan repayment flexibilities and debt relief that may be available to individuals to alleviate potential financial effects related to COVID-19. The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) generally authorizes several options for…

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. It represents the single largest source of federal financial assistance to support students' postsecondary educational pursuits. The U.S. Department of…

Black students are more likely to take on debt, borrow higher amounts, and struggle with repayment than their peers, because they generally have fewer resources to pay for college, thanks to the ongoing generational effects of systemic racism. This debt burden has far-reaching financial consequences, and many Black borrowers are unable to afford…

This hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions focuses on reauthorizing the Higher Education Act through financial aid simplification and transparency. The following committee members presented opening statements: (1) Honorable Lamar Alexander, Chairman, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; and (2)…

As of March 2019, 43 million Americans held student loans provided through federal government programs, the largest segment of the education loan market. But this system is under pressure as more borrowers struggle to repay, a problem compounded by the complexity of the repayment process. Research on the pathways borrowers take through the…