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Research and Evaluation
Balancing Act: The Tradeoffs and Challenges Facing Black Students in Higher Education
Feb. 9, 2023
Many Black students in the U.S. face distinctive challenges to completing postsecondary programs. Six-year completion rates for any type of degree or certificate program are lower for Black students than for those in any other racial or ethnic group. Barriers to completion include the high financial cost of higher education and implicit and overt forms…
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Research and Evaluation
Stronger Nation: Ten Findings on U.S. Educational Attainment Trends
Jan. 31, 2023
The nation’s educational attainment rate after high school in 2021 was 53.7 percent. This figure means 53.7 percent of working-age adults— those 25 to 64 years old—had earned college degrees or other credentials beyond a high school diploma that could lead to further education and better pay or jobs.
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Research and Evaluation
Pell Access and Completion Series Part III: For-Profit Colleges and Universities
Aug. 10, 2022
The Pell Grant is targeted to students with the greatest financial need, and many policymakers find the Pell Grant a useful policy lever for promoting access and success for students from lower- and moderate-income backgrounds.
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Research and Evaluation
Varying Degrees 2022
July 25, 2022
New America’s sixth annual survey on higher education entails interviews with 1,517 Americans ages 18 and older to better understand their perceptions of education after high school.
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Research and Evaluation
College Enrollment During the Pandemic
July 25, 2022
While overall enrollment in postsecondary education has been declining over the past decade, the pandemic appears to have exacerbated this trend, especially at community colleges and among nontraditional students. Enrollment across all sectors has dropped from just over 17 million students in spring 2020 to just under 16 million in spring 2022.
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Research and Evaluation
Lost and Found: State and Institutional Actions to Resolve Stranded Credits
July 7, 2022
Nationally, researchers estimates that more than six million students have completed credits at postsecondary institutions that they cannot document due to a past due balances. These overdue balances contribute to a national problem of stranded credits—credits that students have completed but cannot document because they were unable to fulfill their financial obligations to their institution.…
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Research and Evaluation
Beyond Completion

Post-Completion Efforts at Hispanic-Serving Institutions

July 1, 2022
Post-completion success for Latino students is a conscious campus-based conversation that is gaining traction and support in a growing number of institutions. This report from Excelencia in Education highlights the work of seven Hispanic-Serving Institutions that are expanding their scope of Latino student success and taking active steps to create learning experiences to promote workforce preparation…
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Research and Evaluation
Undergraduate Degree Earners: Academic Year 2020-21
June 21, 2022
The number of undergraduate credential earners has started to rise again, continuing the pre-pandemic upward trend. According to this report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, a total of 3.7 million undergraduate credential earners in the 2020-21 academic year represent a 1.1 percent increase from the previous year.
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Research and Evaluation
Spring 2022 Enrollment Estimates

Overview, Spring 2022

June 14, 2022
New data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center show enrollment declines continued to worsen this spring. Total postsecondary enrollment fell to 16.2 million this spring, marking a one-year decline of 4.1 percent or 685,000 students. Enrollment declined this spring at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Following a 3.5 percent drop last spring, postsecondary institutions…
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Research and Evaluation
The Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States: 2022 Historical Trend Report
May 13, 2022
Despite gradual increases in U.S. higher education participation and attainment over the last half century, this annual report from The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education of the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) and the University of Pennsylvania Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (PennAHEAD) finds persistent inequity throughout the…
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