In Fall 2022, the U.S. Education Department unveiled a drastic overhaul of federal student loan policies. The new rules serve as a key vehicle to advance the Biden administration's higher education agenda. However, some of the final regulations look quite different from the policy proposals initially outlined in President Joe Biden's campaign…

Today, costs loom large in public discussions about the problems in higher education. That's no wonder. Tuition at four-year private colleges has grown at an average annual rate of 2.3% above inflation over the past 10 years. Four-year public and two-year institutions have seen similar trends, with tuition growing at an annual rate of 3.1% and…

Higher education is a critical tool for social mobility, but today, students and their families face significant challenges. It is against this backdrop that the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) convened the Task Force on Higher Education Financing and Student Outcomes. This group has identified several areas of federal policy ripe for reform that…

"Fault Lines in Borrowing: Academic Outcomes of Students in Default" examines factors influencing and influenced by loan defaults among students at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida. The findings demonstrate that loan defaults and their harsh penalties are strongly associated with poorer academic persistence and completion. The paper…

In 2014, ACCT and TICAS partnered to examine student loan default at nine community colleges and explore administrative practices aimed at addressing students' default risks. At each college, we analyzed cohort default rate data and uncovered notable trends and populations at higher risk, identified default-reduction strategies the college was…

The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA; P.L. 89-329, as amended) authorizes the operation of three federal student loan programs: the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) program, the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program, and the Federal Perkins Loan program. While new loans are authorized to be made only through the Direct…

Student loan debt continues to grow at a rapid pace (Scott-Clayton, 2018). The total debt burden for each student graduating from college is over $35,000, and that number is likely to gradually rise as tuition costs and fees at institutions of higher education increase (Friedman, 2018). The problem is not that students accrue debt but rather the…

U.S. citizens or permanent residents, enrolled at least half time in a qualified program at a participating school, not in default on a prior federal student loan, and not previously convicted of a drug offense while receiving federal financial aid are eligible to apply for a student loan. This chart summarizes the interest rates, loan limits, and…

One-third of student loan debt is delinquent or in default, creating a crisis in the United States economy and the lives of the students (Friedman, 2020 U.S. Department of Education, 2019). A more complex story is that of the African American student with default rates five times more than their majority counterparts (Mishory et al., 2019;…

In an era of escalating higher education costs, students and families need to be aware of all of their options for financing college and how those financing options work. Financing remains one the top factors for choosing a college, especially for students with greater financial need. Those who do not receive the award packages and financial…

Community colleges play an important role in providing access to higher education and promoting economic mobility, but student outcomes vary widely across institutions. Although community colleges have been largely excluded from recent federal accountability action, the potential re-regulation of Gainful Employment raises the question of whether…

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…

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program was established in 2007 and forgives borrowers' remaining federal student loan balances after they have made at least 10 years of qualifying loan payments while working in public service. Starting in September 2017, the first borrowers potentially became eligible for the PSLF program and began…

In recent years, there has been strong bipartisan interest at the congressional level to require annual federal student loan counseling. Given this interest, and the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators' (NASFAAs') commitment to being an active, helpful partner in reauthorization discussions, NASFAA convened a task force…

Since both colleges and students have very different resources and starting points, good policy should strengthen the ability of campuses and students to succeed and not punish them for taking important chances despite limited resources and greater challenges. Policymakers are interested in using student loan repayment rates as an accountability…