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April 17, 2025
Turn Public Service Loan Forgiveness into a State Block Grant
As Congress negotiates a bill to overhaul the federal budget, lawmakers looking to save money should note $30 billion in potential savings hiding in plain sight. The Public Service Loan…
April 8, 2025
Could A Higher Endowment Tax Pressure Elite Schools To Expand?
Congressional Republicans are considering a significant hike in the excise tax on the endowments of rich universities as part of a broader tax reform effort. Most private universities with more than $500,000…
March 24, 2025
The Student Loan Payment Pause Was a Catastrophic Mistake
In March 2020, as America shut down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress passed a law suspending federal student loan payments for six months. The payment pause ended up lasting, in…
March 21, 2025
Increasing Financial Aid Isn’t the Solution to High College Costs
Harvard University recently announced it would make tuition free for students from families earning below $200,000—but for middle-class students not lucky enough to receive a Harvard acceptance letter, college tuition is still…
March 18, 2025
Rebuilding Higher Education Finance: Reform Through Reconciliation
Event Summary On March 18, AEI’s Beth Akers and Preston Cooper spoke with Alex Ricci of the Education Finance Council and Lindsey M. Burke of the Heritage Foundation to discuss…
March 13, 2025
The Return To Student Loan Repayment, In Four Charts
In March 2020, the federal government enacted a “temporary” pause on student loan repayment, which the Trump and Biden administrations extended a grand total of eight times. But as of…
March 13, 2025
Trends in Net College Tuition and Financial Aid, 1990–2020
Key Points While the sticker price of college rose $13,717 in real terms between 1989–90 and 2019–20, the net tuition students pay after financial aid rose just $4,526. However, the…
February 6, 2025
High Costs, Uneven Value: Repairing The Federal Role in Postsecondary Education
The higher education system suffers from many problems, including excessive costs, low completion rates, uneven financial value for students, and high rates of student loan nonpayment. Federal government policies unintentionally…
January 23, 2025
Four College Enrollment Trends to Watch
The National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) published its biannual report on college enrollment trends this morning, providing a comprehensive look at how student numbers totaled up in fall 2024. NSC’s preliminary figures, released…
December 3, 2024
How States Can Shake Up the Stagnant Higher Education Market
Artificial barriers to entry have been a feature of markets for millennia, from medieval guilds to modern occupational licenses. Though often defended on the basis of consumer protection, barriers which…