Aligning the Means and the Ends: How to Improve Federal Student Aid and Increase College Access and Success

This white paper calls for major changes to federal student aid, including Pell Grants, student loans, and tax benefits, with the goals of increasing college affordability and completion. More than two dozen recommendations would simplify the financial aid system, from applying for aid to repaying student loans; better target resources; reduce waste and fraud; and align incentives for colleges with better outcomes for students.

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Student Debt and the Class of 2011

Two-thirds of college seniors who graduated in 2011 had student loan debt, with an average of $26,600 per borrower. Meanwhile, unemployment for young college graduates remained high at 8.8 percent in 2011. Our new report, Student Debt and the Class of 2011, includes average debt levels for the 50 states and District of Columbia and for more than 1,000 U.S. colleges and universities.

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Strengthening Cal Grants to Better Serve Today's Students

The Institute for College Access & Success and more than a dozen other student, civil rights, business, and college access organizations have come together to release a new analysis of how Cal Grants could better serve low-income college students. The Cal Grant program provides $1.5 billion in need-based grant aid that each year helps hundreds of thousands of Californians pay for college. However, the report finds that many needy college students either do not receive Cal Grants or receive less than others with more resources.

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Student Loan Default Rates Show Continued Borrower Distress

New data released by the U.S. Department of Education confirm that student loan default continues to plague far too many borrowers. However, the data paint an uneven picture behind the overall trend, with three-year default rates at for-profit colleges double those of public colleges and triple those of nonprofit colleges.  Nearly half (47 percent) of defaulters attended for-profit colleges, which enroll only 13 percent of students. These data underscore the need for more oversight and stronger standards at schools where poor student outcomes are the norm, and for intensified efforts to help borrowers enroll in affordable repayment plans before they default.

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Visit the Cohort Default Rate Resources page