Topic: Affordability
Blog Post
March 31, 2022
Understanding the Impacts of Emergency Micro-Grants on Student Success
Well before the COVID-19 pandemic, many college students across the country faced challenges in meeting their basic needs, including access to food, housing, childcare, and transportation. These barriers, combined with rising prices relative to income and grant aid, are a key reason that over 36 million former students have left college without earning their degree. The pandemic has exacerbated students’ financial issues, and many more have chosen not…
Blog Post
March 10, 2022
A Preliminary Analysis of Debt Forgiveness Programs
The COVID-19 pandemic spotlighted the ever-increasing amount and crushing effects of student debt, including debts owed directly to postsecondary institutions. In an earlier report, Solving Stranded Credits, we estimated that roughly 6.6 million students owe over $15 billion in unpaid balances to colleges and universities in the United States. The weight of institutional debt can leave students feeling defeated, forcing many to avoid pursuing postsecondary education altogether. On a national scale, these debts…
Blog Post
December 8, 2021
A Sustainable Solution to Settle Students’ Debt and Release Stranded Credits
Ithaka S+R and Eight Ohio Public Institutions Announce Promising New Pilot
Since publishing our first report on the subject in October 2020, Ithaka S+R has been at the forefront of defining the problem of stranded credits. We are now moving ahead with testing a potentially groundbreaking solution. “Stranded credits” are credits that students have earned but can’t access because their former institution is holding their transcript as collateral for an unpaid balance to the institution. Ninety-five percent of…
Blog Post
November 10, 2021
Unpacking the Effects of Increasing Pell Grants
The Pell Grant is America’s most prominent tool to promote college access and affordability for low- and middle-income students. With a substantial increase in the maximum Pell award under consideration by Congress, a natural question is how that increase is likely to impact the access and affordability goals of the program. The answer, it turns out, depends a lot on the college or university at which a Pell recipient uses the grant. In a new…
Issue Brief
November 9, 2021
No “One Size Fits All” Impact of Doubling Pell Grants
Understanding the Impact of Changing the Maximum Pell Grant on Low- and Middle-Income Students
As policy makers consider revisions to the Higher Education Act (HEA), understanding the impact of increasing the size of Pell grants is important if it is to have the intended impact of improving educational outcomes for lower income students across the various types of colleges and universities. Proposals to increase the Pell grant have been put forward by the Education Trust, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Urban Institute, the Biden administration, and many others. House Republicans have…
Blog Post
August 30, 2021
Collecting Data on New Debt Relief Programs
What’s the Impact on Stranded Credits and Student Outcomes?
Stranded credits, or academic credits previously earned but inaccessible due to an outstanding debt to an institution, impact an estimated 6.6 million students across the country. Students affected by stranded credits represent nearly one-sixth of the estimated 36 million students who left college with some credit, but no degree, and are more likely to be students of color and from lower-income backgrounds. Recently, the issue of stranded credits…
Issue Brief
August 25, 2021
Improving Clarity in Financial Aid Offers
Content and Design Recommendations for Transparent Student Communications
The American Talent Initiative’s latest issue brief, “Improving Clarity in Financial Aid Offers,” centers on the need for colleges and universities to prioritize clear, transparent financial aid communications, especially as the cost of college has significantly increased over the past three decades and left a shrinking number of students able to afford higher education (especially amid the pandemic). To address this enduring challenge, institutions can use powerful tools like the financial aid offer to help students understand the true…
Blog Post
August 17, 2021
“It pushes you down even further”
Documenting the Burden of Stranded Credits Through the Voices of Those Affected
In October 2020, Ithaka S+R estimated that 6.6 million people in the US owe a debt to a college or university they previously attended, and because of that, cannot access their transcripts or credentials. This insidious and understudied form of student debt not only saddles individuals with collections, credit rating issues, and other typical consequences of debt, but also prevents them from using credits and credentials they’ve earned to continue their education or…
Research Report
August 17, 2021
Stranded Credits: A Matter of Equity
Usually when student debt is discussed and examined, the focus is on federal and private loans; however there are other more insidious forms of student debt that affect thousands of students each year and impact their ability to matriculate, transfer, qualify for scholarships and even qualify for job opportunities. Stranded credits is a phenomenon where students earn academic credits but cannot access them due to an unpaid balance with a previously attended institution that is holding their transcript as collateral.
Issue Brief
December 10, 2020
Reimagining State Higher Education Funding
Recommendations from the Ithaka S+R Convening
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are still unfolding, but already the pandemic seems likely to have an unprecedented impact on higher education finances. In response to declining tax revenues, states are beginning to curtail higher education funding, a key source of revenue for many public colleges and universities. Changing enrollment patterns and rising unemployment has softened demand for some colleges, which can negatively affect tuition revenues. Limitations on in-person activities and increased health-related costs are shrinking auxiliary revenues, a…
Blog Post
November 16, 2020
Examining Institution-Level Income Distribution and Financial Aid Trends
New Report
In a 2019 report, we shared initial findings from a novel effort to compare key statistics on the income distribution of undergraduate populations and financial aid awards from three public sources: the Integrated Postsecondary Education System (IPEDS), Opportunity Insights, and the Common Data Set (CDS). Comparing these data sources across groups of higher education institutions organized by control (public or private) and admissions selectivity, we found that they presented similar income distributions, and…
Research Report
November 16, 2020
Comparing Public Institution-Level Data on Students’ Family Income and Financial Aid
In a recent research report titled “Better Than We Thought,” our team at Ithaka S+R compared Integrated Postsecondary Education System (IPEDS) data on the parental income distribution of entering college students with two other public sources of socioeconomic information on that population. In the report, we first checked the consistency of the income distributions reported by IPEDS with a more comprehensive dataset of tax records collected by researchers Opportunity Insights. Finding that, at the level of aggregate groups of institutions…
Blog Post
October 5, 2020
“Stranded Credits”
New Report Explores Scope and Effects of Transcript Withholding
In the past 20 years, over thirty-six million Americans have left higher education without earning a postsecondary degree or credential. Those with some college experience but no degree are often left in debt without the requisite labor market opportunities to pay it off, and can struggle financially for several years after dropping out. These impacts are particularly deleterious for students of color, who are often saddled with an…
Research Report
October 5, 2020
Solving Stranded Credits
Assessing the Scope and Effects of Transcript Withholding on Students, States, and Institutions
Attention to the burden of U.S. educational debt, now at $1.7 trillion, has grown in recent years. For too many former postsecondary students—especially Black students—debt they took on to improve their lives and career prospects has instead become a financial hindrance, delaying or undermining their efforts to buy homes, build savings, or provide for their families. The debt burden is especially severe for those who never completed their postsecondary program and therefore did not receive the credentials that might have…
Blog Post
April 3, 2020
Federal Relief Opportunities for Small Colleges and Universities
Update April 10, 2020: Since launching its relief programs on April 3, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has clarified that students employed by the institution should be counted as employees when determining eligibility for the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan (discussed below). As a result, many small colleges and universities may now exceed the 500-employee maximum and will no longer qualify for assistance through these programs. An institution with more than 500 employees may still be eligible…
Research Report
February 19, 2020
Expanding Opportunity for Lower-Income Students
Three Years of the American Talent Initiative
The American Talent Initiative (ATI) was formed in December 2016 to address a persistent issue—specifically, that the American colleges and universities with the greatest resources, and where students have the highest likelihood of graduating, have historically served far too few young people from low- and middle-income backgrounds. The American Talent Initiative has a goal to enroll an additional 50,000 low- and middle-income students at these institutions by the year 2025. ATI is on track to meet its goal. Between 2015-16,…
Blog Post
October 29, 2019
Do Emergency Micro-Grants Help Financially-Disadvantaged Students Succeed?
Over the last 10 years, tuition and fees at degree-granting institutions have risen by 27 percent, making it more difficult for students, especially those already struggling to cover basic needs like housing and food, to afford to remain in college in the face of unexpected financial trouble. In many cases, unpaid term balances prevent students from continuing in the current term or enrolling in the following one, and as a result, students dropout or are automatically dropped. Unpaid balances…
Issue Brief
October 2, 2019
The Strategic Alignment of State Appropriations, Tuition, and Financial Aid Policies
In response to the Great Recession in 2008 and 2009, states reduced their expenditures on many public services and goods, including substantial cuts to higher education spending. Despite a strong economic recovery since the Great Recession and significant increases in student enrollment, most states’ spending on higher education has not returned to pre-recession levels. Reductions in state spending and rising costs have led a number of public colleges and universities to increase tuition, making college less affordable for many students…
Issue Brief
April 4, 2019
The Market, the American Dream, or Dreams of the Lottery
The Robert H. Atwell Plenary Address, ACE 2019
This paper was originally presented on March 10, 2019, as the Robert H. Atwell Plenary Address at ACE 2019 in Philadelphia. The income disparity in our country has been growing for 40 years, and this increasing inequality is putting pressure on the social cohesion of our nation. Commitment to our country’s institutions, including colleges and universities, and values, including equal opportunity and economic and social mobility, depends on everyone feeling that these institutions and values serve their welfare and their…
Past Event
March 6, 2019
Catharine Bond Hill Joins the “Shark Tank” at SXSW EDU
On Wednesday, March 6, Catharine Bond Hill will take part in the “Shark Tank: Edu Edition” at the SXSW EDU Conference in Austin, Texas. The Shark Tank will run from 12:30 – 1:30 pm. Presented by The Chronicle of Higher Education, this fifth annual pitch-a-thon pays homage to the TV show, but with a twist. Our panel of experts bring a mix of viewpoints – from a journalist, an academic, and an entrepreneur – weighing in on transformative ideas from new…