Tag: financial aid

October 9, 2023

The leading deciding factor for parents and students when making their college decision was academic quality, followed by cost and financial aid, according to two new independent surveys from enrollment marketing experts Spark451, a Jenzabar Company. Thousands of high school […]

October 3, 2023

The already dizzyingly confusing process of applying for financial aid was further complicated this year when the federal government postponed the release of the updated FAFSA from October to December. Theoretically, the new FAFSA, which stands for Free Application for […]

August 25, 2023

The U.S. Department of Education has settled with five free-standing law schools after an investigation showed that those institutions “improperly disbursed” federal financial aid to students enrolled in unaccredited master of laws programs. Albany Law School, Atlanta’s John Marshall School […]

July 17, 2023

My dad and I sat slouched over his computer on a warm summer night a few months before the start of my junior year of college. We had been browsing my school’s financial aid website crunching every number. We were […]

May 23, 2023

Federal policymakers have negotiated for weeks over raising the debt ceiling, with Republicans insisting Democrats agree to spending cuts to secure their cooperation. However, given the likely catastrophic economic consequences of a government default, lawmakers on both sides of the […]

November 29, 2022

College pricing can devolve into an opaque mix of terminology — tuition, fees, net price, funded financial aid, unfunded financial aid, federal student loans, private student loans, scholarships, grants, work-study — contributing to a system that even higher education experts […]

November 22, 2022

In November 2020, colleges and their millions of students were smarting from the economic sting of the coronavirus pandemic. Colleges trimmed costs after campus shutdowns prompted many to refund auxiliary fees for services like residence halls and dining, which underpin […]

October 27, 2022

State-awarded student financial aid decreased negligibly in 2020–21 to $14.784 billion, down 0.1 percent from the $14.801 billion awarded in 2019–20, according to the latest annual survey from the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs. The survey […]

October 14, 2022

The U.S. Department of Education is stepping up its enforcement of college-sponsored banking arrangements. In conjunction with a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the department released a Dear Colleague letter Thursday reminding institutions about their role in […]

September 6, 2022

Friday’s lawsuit escalates a multiweek battle at the intersection of free college programs, institutions’ financial aid practices and regulations governing federal aid like the Pell Grant, which generally funds low-income students’ college costs. For seven years, Eastern Gateway, which has […]

July 5, 2022

Moody’s finds good news and some risks in a new report on public college and university finances. “Improved state support and one-time federal pandemic relief along with expense cuts underpinned stronger operating performance for public universities in fiscal 2021,” according […]

February 9, 2021

As the pandemic erupted, some institutions reached out to donors without asking for contributions, while others solicited support for their institutions’ human services, the report notes. Many community colleges, for instance, found success raising money for emergency student aid. Giving […]

February 8, 2021

The U.S. Department of Education disproportionately selected Black and Hispanic students for financial aid audits over the last decade, The Washington Post reported after an analysis of federal data. After students turn in their Free Application for Federal Student Aid, […]

December 22, 2020

A $900 billion coronavirus-relief package, expected to be passed by Congress as soon as later today, would give colleges and universities another $23 billion in relief aid to get through the next few months before the new Biden administration is […]

December 18, 2020

Lynda McGee, a college counselor at the Downtown Magnets High School in Los Angeles, is trying everything she possibly can to get her students to apply for financial aid. She has doubled the number of students enlisted as peer college […]

March 4, 2020

Thousands of high school students in Washington will have a new ally in the financial aid application process, thanks to the rollout of an AI chatbot named “Otter.” Launched by the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC), Otter uses conversational AI, […]

August 6, 2019

In an effort to connect students with college financial aid, some states are requiring graduating seniors to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application. In the 2021-22 school year, Texas will become the second to require students […]