College affordability is a significant factor in student access, retention, and completion. Tuition and fee rates are a component of affordability, as is the availability of financial aid programs from federal, state, institutional and private sources, among other factors. Strategically designed approaches to college affordability can better…

Is the end in sight for college tuition hikes? Tuition and fees at public colleges and universities consistently have risen twice or even three times as fast as comparable increases in the Consumer Price Index in recent years. Since 2000 these costs have even grown 60 percent faster than health care costs. The results have been rapidly rising…

Students suffer extreme hardship when their postsecondary education is interrupted or significantly devalued by school closure or misconduct. Private postsecondary education in particular can cost tens of thousands of dollars in tuition, fees, equipment, and required materials. These considerable expenses constitute only part of the economic harm…

This hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions examines reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, focusing on ensuring college affordability. Following an opening statement by Honorable Lamar Alexander (Chairman, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions), the following senators provide statements: (1) Honorable…

This report provides a detailed look at the sources and distribution of grants, loans, and other student aid for the most recent academic year and how this funding has changed over time. The federal government provided two-thirds of all student aid in 2016-17, but only one-third of the grant aid. In the context of uncertainty about the timing of…

This report shares the perspectives and aspirations of 17 low-income and working-class students based on interviews the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) conducted over two semesters of their college journeys. The report identifies opportunities for policymakers and institutional leaders to support all students through completion,…

Data on student aid for 2015-16 confirm that the dramatic increases in aid awarded in 2009-10 and 2010-11 were products of extreme economic circumstances, not harbingers of long-run changes in financing for postsecondary education. Both total federal education loans and federal loans per full-time equivalent (FTE) student declined for the fifth…

As the nation slowly emerges from the Great Recession, the patterns of student aid are returning to the paths they were on before the economy crashed. The federal government, which dramatically stepped up its subsidies to students in 2009-10 and 2010-11, continues to play an expanded role, but not a growing role. Students continue to borrow at…

After increasing by 18% (in inflation-adjusted dollars) between 2007-08 and 2010-11, the total amount students borrowed in federal and non-federal education loans declined by 13% between 2010-11 and 2013-14. Growth in full-time equivalent (FTE) postsecondary enrollment of 16% over the first three years, followed by a decline of 4% over the next…

Though the labor market is slowly improving, the Great Recession that began in December 2007 was so long and severe that the crater it left in the labor market continues to be devastating for workers of all ages. Unemployment has been above eight percent for more than three years, and 12.7 million workers remain unemployed today. The weak labor…

The New Mexico Higher Education Department strives to bring leadership, guidance, and assistance to New Mexico's higher education stakeholders. The HED is committed to promoting best practices, institutional fiscal responsibility, and student achievement. Everything the agency does is through the lens of supporting New Mexico's higher education…

Trends in Student Aid, an annual College Board publication since 1983, is a compendium of detailed, up-to-date information on the funding that is available to help students pay for college. This report documents grant aid from federal and state governments, colleges and universities, employers, and other private sources, as well as loans, tax…

The New Mexico Higher Education Department (HED) and higher education institutions (HEIs) have set long-term statewide goals to increase 4-year graduation rates, improve transfer and articulation, and improve remedial education outcomes. HED is pursuing these goals through the following initiatives: (1) Statewide common course numbering and…

The demands of society and constraints on resources will require change in the financing models states use to fund their higher education enterprises. Models built on the priorities of student access and institutional growth will no longer suffice. Those based on student success and productivity increases consistent with getting more entering…

American Association of State Colleges and Universities' (AASCU's) public policy agenda, rooted in an uncompromising commitment to opportunity for the nation's students, is expressed through the following core principles: (1) Higher education is a common good that provides significant benefits to individuals and society as a whole; (2) America's…