How States Can Deliver a More Effective College Affordability Message
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| Title: | How States Can Deliver a More Effective College Affordability Message |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Adan, Sara, The Century Foundation |
| Source: | Century Foundation. 2019. |
| Availability: | Century Foundation. 41 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021. Tel: 212-535-4441; Fax: 212-879-9197; e-mail: info@tcf.org; Web site: http://www.tcf.org |
| Peer Reviewed: | N |
| Page Count: | 12 |
| Publication Date: | 2019 |
| Document Type: | Reports - Evaluative |
| Education Level: | Higher Education Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: | Paying for College, Student Financial Aid, Data Use, Outreach Programs, Taxes, State Agencies, Low Income Students, College Attendance, Access to Information, Agency Cooperation, Shared Resources and Services, Family Programs, Federal Programs, Welfare Services, Eligibility, Health Insurance, Children, Costs |
| Geographic Terms: | California, Michigan, Texas |
| Laws, Policies and Program Identifiers: | Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Social Security, Childrens Health Insurance Program |
| Abstract: | While college costs have risen significantly in the past few decades, some of those cost increases can be partially mitigated by financial aid for low-income families. But many low- and moderate-income families vastly overestimate the cost of college, leading them to assume that enrolling their children in college, particularly a four-year school, is not a realistic option, or that aid is not available even if they do decide to enroll. More must be done to lower the cost of college. But as the federal government and state governments pursue those efforts, this report explores how states could simultaneously do more to generate and send to families personalized estimates of college costs--after aid--for their students. First, it reviews the college costs and financial aid information gap that families encounter. Second, it reviews how states have leveraged existing data in other social policy areas to provide information and even make eligibility determinations. Third, it analyzes key considerations in designing an outreach initiative that leverages state tax information. Finally, it looks across three states--California, Michigan, and Texas--to determine how such an initiative would work in practice, basing assessments on research from existing state agency information data sharing practices and interviews with financial aid, higher education, and taxation state workers in each of the selected states. |
| Abstractor: | ERIC |
| Entry Date: | 2020 |
| Access URL: | https://production-tcf.imgix.net/app/uploads/2019/10/18122306/FinalPDF_Adan.pdf |
| Accession Number: | ED603392 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | While college costs have risen significantly in the past few decades, some of those cost increases can be partially mitigated by financial aid for low-income families. But many low- and moderate-income families vastly overestimate the cost of college, leading them to assume that enrolling their children in college, particularly a four-year school, is not a realistic option, or that aid is not available even if they do decide to enroll. More must be done to lower the cost of college. But as the federal government and state governments pursue those efforts, this report explores how states could simultaneously do more to generate and send to families personalized estimates of college costs--after aid--for their students. First, it reviews the college costs and financial aid information gap that families encounter. Second, it reviews how states have leveraged existing data in other social policy areas to provide information and even make eligibility determinations. Third, it analyzes key considerations in designing an outreach initiative that leverages state tax information. Finally, it looks across three states--California, Michigan, and Texas--to determine how such an initiative would work in practice, basing assessments on research from existing state agency information data sharing practices and interviews with financial aid, higher education, and taxation state workers in each of the selected states. |
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