Reports & Tools

IES Director’s Biennial Report to Congress (FY 2017-18)

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) has released their Director’s Biennial Report to Congress for Fiscal Years 2017–18. IES is focusing on its mission as an applied research agency. IES has invested—and will continue to invest—in basic research, but as a science and statistical agency housed in the U.S. Department of Education, the Institute’s work focuses on improving the outcomes of learners throughout the life cycle. This means an emphasis on translating research for widespread use.

Opportunity Lost: Net Price and Equity at Public Flagship Institutions (Angela Henderson)

This report draws on data from each university's net price calculator to assess their affordability for five prototypical college students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. While state flagships promise a high-quality, affordable path to a college degree for state residents, this analysis finds that these institutions are too expensive for most aspiring and enrolled low-income college students.

The Challenges of an Aging Higher Ed Workforce (Angela Henderson)

This brief focuses on the implications of the aging staff workforce in higher education, specifically professionals and non-exempt staff. The report examines the age distribution of higher ed staff, identifies the job areas with the largest aging workforce, examines pay equity for women and men with varying levels of experience, and highlights the higher ed staff positions where salary compression is the most common.

Improving Temporary Expanded Process Could Help Reduce Borrower Confusion

This report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) analyzes data from the Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) servicer on loan forgiveness requests from May 2018 through May 2019 to examine the extent to which the process for obtaining TEPSLF is clear to borrowers and what is known about loan forgiveness approvals and denials. As of May 2019, The U.S. Department of Education (ED) had processed about 54,000 requests for TEPSLF loan forgiveness since May 2018, and approved 1 percent of these requests, totaling about $26.9 million in loan forgiveness. GAO recommends that the ED integrate the TEPSLF request into the PSLF application, require all loan servicers to include TEPSLF information on their websites, and include TEPSLF information in its PSLF Online Help Tool. Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office / PostsecData

Emerging Trends

Top 10 Academic Affairs Issues (Angela Henderson)

Each year, EAB asks academic affairs leaders to talk about the challenges on their campuses. Based on those results, EAB identifies the most pressing issues in order to execute actionable research studies. While provosts are intimately familiar with their own campuses’ issues, they lack confirmation that they have identified all potential threats or that their perceived risks do in fact warrant urgent attention. The infographic offers an industry-wide perspective on the academic affairs concerns across institutions.

Policy Watch

U.S. Department of Education Finalizes Regulations to Protect Student Borrowers, Hold Higher Education Institutions Accountable and Save Taxpayers $11.1 Billion Over 10 Years (Angela Henderson)

The Department of Education finalized regulations to protect student borrowers, hold higher education institutions accountable and provide financial protections to taxpayers. The Institutional Accountability regulations are the product of more than two years of deliberations, public hearings, negotiated rulemaking with a wide variety of higher education stakeholders and careful consideration of tens of thousands of public comments.

Policymakers Must Address Unequal Spending on Public Colleges

This article discusses recent declines on spending for public colleges, particularly at community colleges, and the need for resources to help students overcome obstacles like affordability and lack of academic preparation. The author shares examples of how funding can be put toward institutional initiatives to minimize obstacles like using data to identify inequities, inform institutional practices, and increase attainment. Recommendations for policymakers are to help increase attainment by investing more in public colleges and universities and to reduce student debt by tackling the inequitable funding patterns that perpetuate disparities. Source: Forbes / PostsecData

The Most Cost-effective Ways to Increase College Graduation Rates

This article summarizes the findings of a recent paper on cost-effective policies to increase college-going and completion. The authors suggest that the most cost-effective way would be to raise per-pupil spending on core academic services through a 10 percent increase in instructional spending on community college—as well as leveling up instructional spending at public four-years—rather than providing free community college alone. According to the study, free community college programs would reduce 4-year degree completion rates because it would pull a substantial share of students away from enrollment in four-year public (6.8 percent) and private (5.8 percent) institutions while also inducing 15 percent of those not enrolled at a postsecondary institution to do so. Source: Brookings / PostsecData

NCES Updates

Changes in Undergraduate Program Completers’ Borrowing Rates and Loan Amounts by Age: 1995–96 Through 2015–16

This Data Point focuses on undergraduate program completers, that is, undergraduates who completed or expected to complete a degree or certificate program in academic years 1995–96, 1999–2000, 2003–04, 2007–08, 2011–12, or 2015–16. It compares their student loan borrowing rates and average cumulative amounts borrowed across five age groups and describes trends in borrowing over time. The analysis is limited to program completers in order to measure total borrowing for a degree or certificate.

Trends in Graduate Student Financing: Selected Years, 2003–04 to 2015–16

This set of Web Tables presents trends in graduate student enrollment, costs of attendance, amount and types of aid received, and amounts borrowed between 2003–04 and 2015–16. These tables present data from four administrations of the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (2003–04, 2007–08, 2011–12, and 2015–16) showing trends in how graduate students financed their education. Data include the demographic attributes and academic characteristics of graduate students and the average price of attendance for the programs in which they were enrolled.