To encourage individuals to enter and remain in the teaching profession, the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program grants loan forgiveness of up to $17,500 for teachers in certain specialties, and up to $5,000 for other teachers who teach for five years in low-income schools and meet other requirements. This brochure provides information about how…

Student financial aid--including grants and loans--plays a key role in supporting students' access to and success in college. Yet, despite periodic increases in grant funding, students and their families have increasingly relied on borrowing to cover more of the costs of higher education. As the number of student borrowers has increased and their…

A decade has passed since participants in the World Education Forum committed themselves to achieve, by 2015, the six Education for All (EFA) goals under the Dakar Framework for Action. Despite significant progress, some of the goals are likely to be missed by a large margin. Besides the absence of a well co-ordinated multi-donor approach in…

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…

Student loans, unlike grants and work-study, are borrowed money that must be repaid, with interest, just like car loans and home mortgages. You cannot have these loans canceled because you didn't like the education you received, didn't get a job in your field of study or because you're having financial difficulty. Loans are legal obligations that…

Becoming a teacher takes years of higher education and hard work. The financial and personal costs can be great. The good news is that there are more chances than ever for teachers-in-training and new teachers to reduce their financial burden. There are two main ways students can get financial aid: with loans and with grants. Many students take on…

Evidence in the research literature indicates people may treat "won" money differently than they would their own money. The present study had a sample of 648 college students complete a delay-discounting task that involved the hypothetical monetary amounts of $1,000 or $100,000. Participants were asked repeatedly what amount they would…

It is commonly asserted, especially by people within higher education, that the American Ivory Tower is strapped for cash and tightfisted taxpayers are to blame. Taxpayer support for postsecondary education has long been in decline, this narrative goes, and has forced schools to continually raise tuition to make up for the losses. Tallying…

ACT's annual Condition of STEM reports provide essential national data on student interest and achievement in STEM subjects. The latest report--"STEM Education in the U.S.: Where We Are and What We Can Do"--takes the data one step further by pairing the latest findings with promising practices aimed at improving STEM achievement and…

Alumni of the Ron Brown Scholar Program, young adults selected for their intellect, leadership skills, service, and financial need, are finding success in the law, government, science, business, medicine, and the arts. Yet they remain tied to the scholarship program, contributing to its continued success by donating money and volunteer hours to…

The goal of "college-for-all" in the United States has been pursued in an environment of rising tuition, stagnant grant aid and already strapped family budgets with the gap filled by college loans. College students are thus facing increasing levels of debt as they seek to develop their human capital and improve their career options. Debt…

President Obama has emphasized the importance of higher education, and recently implemented ambitious higher education finance reform that will serve to benefit college students now and in the future. Although these changes are noteworthy, little has been done to help the many individuals who currently owe student debt, particularly private debt,…

Student loan debt is fast becoming a fact of American life. Students are borrowing more money for college and are being forced to pay back large sums of their income. This report offers a new way to pay back student loans based on each individual's earnings. International Income-Contingent Loan Systems are appended. (Contains 1 figure and 40…

Getting an appointment with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is challenging, and it's also a challenge to put Duncan in an ideological box. Though he champions education reforms favored by Republicans such as charter schools and teacher merit pay, his opposition to school vouchers and his solid working relationship with teachers unions keep him…

Increasingly, college graduation is seen as a necessary step toward achieving the American Dream. However, large disparities exist in graduation rates. For many families, the current family income is not enough to finance college. Therefore, many young adults have to rely on education loans, which may be difficult to repay, leaving them strapped…