With college tuition ever-increasing, it’s no wonder financial aid—and access to it – is growing in importance. Student loans get a lot of (deserved) attention, but grants are important too. The three graphs below show average grant aid broken down by type: federal, state and local, and institutional (funded by the college, e.g. tuition discounts) at public four year, public two year, and privaContinue Reading »

Last week’s release of Academically Adrift has caused a stir in the higher education community because of its claim that “American higher education is characterized by limited or no learning for a large proportion of students.” But one of the book’s overlooked findings is that students who receive grants as their primary form of financial aid learn more than students who receive mostly loans.  Continue Reading »