Low-income and working-class students face many challenges related to the costs and affordability of higher education; yet, little is known about the financial decisions made by these groups of students while they are enrolled in higher education and how their decisions might differ from middle/upper-class students. Using data from students…

This essay examines normative aspects of the gainful employment rule and how the policy frame and image miss important implications for student aid policy. Because the economic and social burdens associated with the policy are typically borne by certain socioeconomic and ethnic groups, the policy frame and image do not identify possible negative…

This study reviewed the literature to investigate the impact of student loans on career choices, in order to provide implications for policy makers and researchers with respect to student loan policy. For this purpose, empirical studies in peer reviewed journals since 1985 were analyzed. This review explored the results of empirical studies…

Tuition assistance offered by employers is an understudied area of financial aid research. The purpose of this study is to compare the demographic, socioeconomic, academic and financial aid characteristics of college students who receive employer-sponsored financial aid with students who receive traditional financial aid (institutional, state, or…

This study builds on the work of scholars who have explored psychological perceptions of the student loan experience. Survey analysis ("N" = 175) revealed a multidimensional model was developed through factor analysis and testing, which revealed four latent variables: "Duress," "Mandatory," "Financial," and…

Using a data set that augments a student survey with administrative data from the Iowa State University Office of Financial Aid, the authors posed two questions: Do students know whether they have student loans? Do students know how much they owe on outstanding student loans? We used logistic and ordered logit regressions to answer these…

Loan borrowing among community college students has increased in recent years. This study utilized original survey data to examine this trend from the perspective and firsthand experiences of 107 community college financial aid counselors from three states: California, Florida, and Texas. Findings indicate these counselors are concerned with the…

Completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the first and most important step for students to receive their portion of the billions of grant aid dollars disbursed in federal student financial aid; however, every year many low income and community college students fail to complete the FAFSA. Over the past twenty years,…

Using the 2007-2008 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, this study tested positively the hypothesis that college students are either likely to acquire debt above the national median or work more than 30 hours a week in order to graduate from a four year degree within six years. These results resonate with the theory of academic capitalism,…

The goals of this study are to examine the relationships between loan knowledge, money management skills, debt tolerance attitudes, and student income potential to their willingness to incur educational debt at a mid-western university. The current study showed that freshmen students lacked personal and general loan knowledge and had unrealistic…

African American and Hispanic participation in graduate and professional programs has increased over the last decade, but the literature on how these students financially support their education is limited. The purpose of this study is to examine the differences in financial aid awards and awarding patterns among African American, Hispanic and…

Some researchers and theorists tend to portray African American parents as lacking the cultural know-how to provide a supportive home environment that enhances college access and success for their children. Since contribution toward college costs is one tangible means by which researchers gauge parents' commitment toward their children's…

College student debt and loan default are growing concerns in the United States. For each U.S. institution, the federal government is now reporting a cohort default rate, which is the percent of students who defaulted on their loan, averaged over a three-year period. Previous studies have amply shown that student characteristics are strongly…

Federal higher education policy has shifted over the past few decades from grants to loans as the primary means for providing access to postsecondary education for low- and moderate-income families. With this shift, policy makers have begun tracking student loan default rates as a key indicator of the efficacy of student loan programs. This effort…

By examining trends in college affordability, this article explores the extent to which the public perception that college is not affordable is justified. First, the article describes trends in national indicators that contribute to ability to pay, including income growth, health care costs, debt burden, and personal savings rates. Trends in…