The Appropriation Act directs the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) to submit an annual report to the Governor and the chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees documenting the annual change in total charges for tuition and fees approved by the boards of visitors at Virginia public…

This mixed-methods study investigates the real and perceived barriers that African American male Edgecombe County high school students face when considering college enrollment to inform potential interventions to improve college enrollment of this market segment. Phase I of the study design included a survey of current, African American, male…

This research study attempted to understand the implications of a last-dollar, free community college program, otherwise known as a College Promise Program, and its ability to provide educational access, academic success, and degree attainment for the neediest of students. Three research questions focused on the relationship between eligibility…

This dissertation is a collection of three essays in Public Economics. The first chapter studies the optimal design of student loans as a lever to foster the inclusion of poor students in private colleges in Brazil. The second chapter delves into understanding the consequences of affirmative action as a tool to increase the participation of…

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which began in 2012 through an Obama executive order, provides individuals who entered the country illegally or overstayed visas as minors with work permits and protection from deportation. Of the approximately 11 million undocumented people in the United States, 690,000 hold DACA permits. They are…

This report aims to expand the window into federal student loan defaults beyond the event of default itself. It attempts to provide the most robust look to date of what happens to student loans "after a borrower defaults and why." Ultimately, this information should help policymakers evaluate the current set of policies related to…

The annual National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) Tuition Discounting Study (TDS) measures tuition discount rates and other indicators of institutional grant awards to undergraduates attending private nonprofit (independent) colleges and universities. The "2017 Tuition Discounting Study" report, based…

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…

The role of higher education towards social, economic and cultural development of our societies is certainly unquestionable from various aspects. In that sense, synergy and mutual dependence of higher education and society & vice-versa is a constant of modern times. However, one must acknowledge that all these aspects very often are highly…

The purpose of this study was to build a better understanding of the issues that students encounter during the summer that deter them from enrolling in the first semester of college in the fall. In Study 1, responses to a short survey were examined, and 4 critical factors were identified as deterring students: lack of college-bound identity, life…

Making college accessible to all includes making it affordable to lower-income families. A growing policy strategy at the state level is to provide individual students with need-based financial aid to offset tuition and living expenses. This strategy inherently presents challenges in choosing which income levels are eligible to receive aid,…

At the end of 2019, 43 million Americans owed over $1.5 trillion in federal student loans. The rapid increase in these balances over the past decade has led many to deem student debt a "crisis." Now, there is growing support among Democratic policymakers, and even some Republicans, to immediately cancel all or most of the federal…

The 50-State Comparison on 529 Education Savings Plans provides a national comparison of state policies and activities related to state 529 education savings plans. It focuses on three main categories of state policies related to 529 plans: contributions, withdrawals, and eligible expenses. The information in this resource was gathered from state…

This document includes the "FY 2023 Annual Performance Report" (APR) and "FY 2025 Annual Performance Plan" (APP). The APR provides narrative and data on the Department of Education's (Department's) progress toward the strategic goals and objectives outlined in its "Fiscal Years [FYs] 2022-2026 Strategic Plan"…

The purpose of this study was to examine veterans' educational intentions as well as the factors influencing their college choices. Individual interviews were conducted with 30 veterans separating from military service who were eligible for military educational benefits. Results indicated 80 percent of veterans planned to utilize their military…