Discusses the recent challenges to affirmative action and the alternative policies states have used to diversify their college campuses, and describes the role minority-serving institutions and financial aid administrators may play in providing access to higher education for underrepresented groups. (EV)

Examined whether there is evidence of gender bias in the awarding of institutional aid to students, controlling for academic ability and need. Found no direct evidence of bias when examining the relationship between student characteristics and aid, but when examining institutional characteristics, indirect implications suggested that gender was…

Summarizes October 2002 testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives on college costs. Reviews why measuring colleges and universities against the operation of ordinary businesses is ineffective (students pay considerably less than what it costs), and offers sobering comments about price discounting strategies currently finding favor at many…

Asserting that confusion about the treatment of merit-based or categorically-based aid has revealed the need for a generalized financial aid reporting methodology, suggests a procedure for financial aid reporting that recognizes differing treatment of need-based aid before and after awarding. Offers general information about the theoretical…

Provides a model of student loan defaults using a panel data file. Identifies a variety of individual variables associated with loan defaults; however, researchers found that the variable with the largest effect on default is continuous enrollment. Students who are continuously enrolled or complete their programs are far less likely to default…

Linked a database of California student borrowers with background financial and demographic information and post-college employment data to examine factors that predict default for borrowers in the federal Family Education Loan program. Found that background demographic and financial characteristics, leaving school without a degree, having low…

Examined data from the 2001 Survey of Undergraduate Financial Aid Policies, Practices, and Procedures. Findings included that all institutional types, even low-cost community colleges, have awarded a large share of their institutional grants based on students' academic merit or other criteria besides their demonstrated financial need, but that…

This longitudinal study of 3,578 matriculating freshmen at a mid-sized public doctoral university in the Midwest found that students working on campus academically persisted at higher rates from fall to spring of their first year, and year to year thereafter. Also, students who worked on campus during their first semester graduated within 6 years…

Examined the influence of gender on students' institutional aid awards while controlling for academic ability and need. Found no direct evidence of gender bias; however, when examining institutional characteristics, indirect implications suggested that gender was related to the relationship between academic ability as measured by the SAT/ACT and…

Analyzed data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) to examine the awarding of institutional need-based versus non-need-based grants to undergraduate students. Determined: (1) how use of these grants has changed; (2) socioeconomic characteristics of student recipients; and (3) how institutional and student characteristics help…

Analyzed data from the 1992-93 and 1995-96 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS) and found that the 1992 amendments to the Higher Education Act were associated with an increased tendency to borrow at the federal limit, particularly among undergraduates from middle-income families. (EV)

A public university developed a comprehensive data file with specifically selected information from students' records in the admissions, registrar's, and student financial aid offices. Data analysis revealed some enrollment trends of first-year, direct-from-high-school applicants related to financial aid variables. (EV)

Examined the distribution of merit-based and need-based financial aid packages among a nationally representative sample of baccalaureate degree recipients. Found that students from underrepresented race and class backgrounds are less likely to receive merit aid and that students with minimal financial need are more likely to receive merit aid. (EV)

Examined performance funding, specifically one common performance measure--student persistence--at three institutions within a single state: a flagship university, a historically black university, and a regional, comprehensive institution. Sought to determine if the outcomes were those intended by policy makers. Uncovered variables that affected…

Summarizes prior studies with a focus on untangling how changes in student financial aid policy have influenced changes in opportunity. Also recommends new strategies for lowering student loan debt, increasing federal and state cooperation in providing adequate need-based grant aid, and developing policies that target debt forgiveness for…