Menu Close

Articles on College cost

Displaying 1 - 20 of 26 articles

College expenses determined by net price calculators can vary by an average of $5,700. Ariel Skelley/DigitalVision via Getty Images Plus

College cost calculators aren’t precise, but they could easily be made better

Net price calculators – online tools meant to estimate what students will actually pay for college – can produce varying results for students in similar economic situations, researchers find.
Currently, the total outstanding federal student loan debt is $1.7 trillion. Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Student loan debt is crushing Americans – 4 essential reads

As federal student loan debt continues to rise, a number of scholars discuss how debt affects the nation’s college students, graduates and the economy as a whole.
Students who rely heavily on financial aid tend to be concentrated in non-selective colleges, new research shows. Ariel Skelly/Getty Images

Federal Pell Grants help pay for college – but are they enough to help students finish?

New research shows that low-income students who qualify for the federal Pell Grant tend to go to non-selective colleges – and why that hurts their chances of graduation.
Left: Robert Smith. Right (clockwise from left): Beyonce Knowles-Carter, Jay-Z, LeBron James and Nicki Minaj. Reuters, USA Today

Could black philanthropy help solve the black student debt crisis?

A recent gift by billionaire Robert Smith to pay off the student loans of 2019 graduates of Morehouse points to the potential of America’s black elite to pay off all black students’ college loans.
Research shows prison education lessens the chances that inmates will return to prison after their release. Elaine Thompson/AP

Why federal student aid should be restored for people in prison

For people in prison to have a better chance at earning a living upon release, Congress should lift a longstanding ban on federal student aid for those serving time, a criminal justice scholar argues.
New research uncovers problems with a ‘calculator’ that colleges must put online to make it easier for prospective students to understand the cost of college. Tina Gutierrez from www.shutterstock.com

Net price calculators were supposed to make it easier to understand the cost of college – instead, many are making it more difficult

While net price calculators are meant to help students figure out how much a particular college will cost, a new study reveals that many colleges’ calculators distort the true cost of attendance.
Researchers found that families who send their children off to college face an increased risk for foreclosure. Monkey Business Images/www.shutterstock.com

Thinking about borrowing against your home to send your kids to college? Think again

The odds of foreclosure double for families who send their kids off to college, according to two researchers who say their findings show a need for new ways for Americans pay for higher education.
Has the cost of higher education in the U.S. put college out of financial reach? DRogatnev/www.shutterstock.com

Making college more affordable

As students head back to campus, the ever higher cost of a college education is once again top of mind. The presidents of Colorado College, Penn State and Xavier University weigh in on what’s to be done.
A new $5 million federal program will bring free digital textbooks to students. Daniel M. Ernst/Shutterstock

New federal program tackles spiraling costs of college textbooks

While a new $5 million program could help college students save money on textbooks each year, a more permanent solution is needed to the problem of pricey textbooks that students often don’t buy.

Top contributors

More