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Little college aid for job seekers

March 21, 2013 by

Federal college aid overwhelmingly goes to students pursuing degrees, while many seeking vocational certificates don’t qualify for aid. Taxpayers should support people who want to learn high-demand job skills — computer techs and nurse’s aides — not people who want to spend four years studying Shakespeare, argues a workforce researcher.

Students who earn credits for competency, not just “seat time,” will be eligible for federal student aid, if their college’s competency-based program is approved by accreditors.

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Not broke! Pell will run surplus till 2015

February 13, 2013 by

Pell isn’t broke! Changes designed to cut the cost of aid to low- and moderate-income students have turned a projected deficit into a surplus that will last till 2015.

Students must take more credits, use aid for fewer semesters and forego summer courses, unless they pay their own way.

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4 more years: What’s ahead for higher ed?

November 9, 2012 by

What’s ahead for higher ed in the next four years? President Obama pledged to link federal aid to colleges’ willingness to cut the rate of tuition growth, but was that just campaign rhetoric?

California community colleges will use new tax revenue to add classes and reduce wait lists.

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College aid: Research, then reform

November 8, 2012 by

Pell Grants will go off a “funding cliff” in 2014. The federal college aid program needs to be reformed — but first research what’s working and what’s not, an analyst argues.

“Swirling” students who transfer multiple times may lose eligibility for Pell Grants under new time limits.

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Aid tops tuition for community college students

October 26, 2012 by

While the “sticker price” at community colleges is up to $3,130, the average student receives more in grants, tax credits and other aid than tuition, leaving $1,220 for books, transportation and living expenses.

Community colleges are rethinking placement tests and looking for ways to start more students at the college level. About 60 percent of community college students are start in developmental education. Only 25 percent finish a credential in eight years, compared to 40 percent of students who start at the college level.

 

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Pell Grant spending declines

September 10, 2012 by

After nearly tripling in five years, federal spending for Pell Grants declined in the last fiscal year. The college aid program for low- and moderate-income students is 40 years old.

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Harkin bill: No aid for ‘worthless’ degrees

August 13, 2012 by

Sen. Tom Harkin’s Protecting Students from Worthless Degrees Act, introduced last week, would cut off federal college aid to unaccredited programs at for-profit colleges that don’t qualify graduates to take licensing exams for jobs in their fields of study.

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How to reform Pell Grants

May 28, 2012 by

Once a sacred cow, Pell Grants’ growing cost — $36 billion and rising — have made changes inevitable. Can Pell be reformed to focus on the neediest students? Should it provide incentives to colleges that graduate their Pell students?

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Employers see higher ed as costly, stodgy

February 16, 2012 by

The nation’s higher education system is costly, unaccountable and unwilling to change, say business leaders interviewed for a Public Agenda report.

For-profit colleges whose students are eligible for federal aid charge 75 percent more than for-profits that don’t participate in aid programs, a new study finds. That confirms a theory that increasing student aid leads to increases in tuition.

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Repayment study left out blacks

January 26, 2012 by

A U.S. Education Department analysis on the relationship between race and repayment of student loans left out black students, skewing results used to justify the gainful employment rule imposed on for-profit colleges.

Should Pell Grants be targeted at low-income students — or expanded to middle-class families? 

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