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The federal government receives more than 17 million applications for federal financial aid each year, disburses grant and loan aid to more than 10 million individuals annually, and oversees a student loan portfolio of more than 42 million borrowers.
This report from the Urban Institute presents nine charts that illustrate how federal student aid has changed, focusing on changes in aid since the Great Recession, as well as changes in repayment and forgiveness during and after the pause on student loan repayments.
Among the findings:
- Undergraduate applications for federal aid have declined, but graduate applications have not. The number of Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) applicants increased during the Great Recession and has generally declined since, following student enrollment trends, with a small rebound in 2023–24, likely attributable to enrollment recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. FAFSA applications for associate degrees and certificate programs saw the largest decrease since 2011.
- The number of undergraduate loan borrowers has continued to fall since the Great Recession. Even with rebounding enrollment after the pandemic, the number of undergraduate students taking out federal student loans annually has generally declined since 2011–12. In contrast, the number of undergraduate students receiving a Pell grant (a need-based grant of up to $7,395 per year) increased starting in 2022–23, reflecting both an enrollment rebound and policy changes that increased eligibility for the Pell program.
- Public institutions serve most Pell recipients. Reflecting their share of total student enrollment, public four- and two-year institutions serve the most Pell recipients and have historically always served between 61 and 70 percent of all Pell students. Private for-profit institutions served about 23 percent of Pell recipients in 2009–10 but now enroll only about 13 percent of this group.