Category: Education

February 2, 2023

Grapevine data is often later amended — last year the survey projected an 8.5% year-over-year increase that was later revised downward to 7.5%. But it still offers valuable insight as an early snapshot of the latest developments in public funding […]

January 30, 2023

The report reveals which groups of borrowers are most struggling to navigate the federal student loan system and where they are hitting snags. Of the nearly 90,000 complaints borrowers lodged about federal student aid, 57% centered on issues with loans. […]

January 25, 2023

The report’s authors argue that the Biden administration’s proposal will transform the income-driven repayment program from “a safety net that supports borrowers with low incomes into a substantial subsidy for most undergraduate students who take on debt.” In turn, most […]

January 11, 2023

State higher education spending decisions are worth extra attention right now amid persistent inflation, economic uncertainty and federal aid approved during the pandemic that’s moving farther into the rearview mirror. Many states are diving into budget planning as legislative sessions […]

January 10, 2023

The proposed reworking of income-driven repayment plans, commonly known as IDR, fits with the Biden administration’s stated mission to overhaul the beleaguered federal student loan system and enact new borrower protections. Policymakers of all political stripes have called out flaws […]

December 20, 2022

Federal Pell Grants, which typically help low-income students pay for college, had been broadly unavailable to people in prison under a 1994 law. But since 2015, the Second Chance Pell pilot program has allowed incarcerated people to receive Pell Grants […]

October 25, 2022

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has turned a critical eye toward higher education’s monetary ecosystem recently. This month, it scrutinized the deals colleges strike with banks. But it’s been investigating other aspects of the sector as well. That follows a […]

October 12, 2022

The new polling adds data points about a long-standing concern for college leaders: whether the public views higher education as affordable and worthwhile. That question has been even more important since President Joe Biden announced a wide-ranging federal student loan […]

October 7, 2022

Higher ed leaders often focus on the financial choices students face, but the conversation overwhelmingly focuses on tuition costs and basic needs like housing and food. The University of Kentucky is looking at another area. In September, it announced it […]

September 22, 2022

Income-share agreements have emerged as controversial financing tools in an era of high college costs. The model’s backers say enabling students to pay for their education with a percentage of their post-graduation earnings ensures they won’t face ruinous amounts of […]

September 15, 2022

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will spend $100 million over five years to fund a group of nonprofit organizations working to help colleges “transform themselves” in the face of falling enrollment, increasing demands for educated workers and declining public […]

August 30, 2022

The Education Department’s action comes less than a week after the Biden administration announced a widespread student loan relief program cancelling up to $10,000 in debt for most borrowers and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. Although that action wasn’t tied […]

August 26, 2022

President Joe Biden invited plenty of debate Wednesday when he announced an income-capped student loan cancellation plan, which will wipe out as much as $10,000 for most borrowers and $20,000 for federal Pell Grant recipients. Higher ed associations and some […]

August 23, 2022

President Joe Biden continues to mull over possible variations of wide-scale student loan forgiveness, including one plan from the U.S. Department of Education that reportedly could cover several million borrowers. That would make good on a campaign pledge Biden made […]

August 18, 2022

Fitch was active sharing information last month as most U.S. colleges started their new fiscal years. The ratings agency circulated a forward-looking commentary on inflation and tuition and held a webinar covering current conditions. It also shared median financial data […]

August 16, 2022

Actions announced Tuesday are the latest in a complex set of steps the Biden administration has pursued to shore up the country’s troubled student loan system. They include proposed regulatory changes as well as attempts to clear out a backlog […]

August 12, 2022

In the early days of COVID-19, colleges terminated staff positions in droves as they faced operational shifts and pandemic-related financial challenges. Now, hiring has returned in fields related to events, as colleges begin to host in-person activities such as fundraising […]

July 6, 2022

Students whose colleges misled them would have an easier time seeking loan forgiveness from the federal government under a series of regulatory proposals the U.S. Department of Education released Wednesday. One long-awaited rule would apply to the borrower defense to […]

June 23, 2022

The settlement agreement could bring to a close a yearslong legal dispute over hundreds of thousands of borrower defense claims. The list of institutions whose borrower defense claimants will receive automatic relief is wide-ranging — it includes currently operating colleges, […]

June 21, 2022

Americans owe a whopping $1.75 trillion in student loan debt. With this in mind, it’s undeniable that something has gone off the rails in our attempts to make higher education more affordable. But wait, it’s even more complicated. The high […]