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Get A Skill, Get A Job, Get Ahead (G3) is a state-funded last-dollar scholarship program for students enrolling in eligible associate degree, certificate, and noncredit occupational training programs in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) in five high-demand fields: early childhood education, healthcare, information technology, public safety, and skilled trades (construction and manufacturing). Launched in the 2021-22 academic year, the G3 initiative aims to increase enrollment, persistence, completion, and labor market success for low-to-middle-income learners. G3 has evolved over the past two years along with VCCS priorities to include a specific focus on boosting college enrollment and success of adult, Black and Hispanic, and low-income learners. In this brief, the authors highlight early insights from a study of G3 implementation and outcomes. Early analysis by VCCS shows that colleges are making progress in increasing enrollment in the five high-demand fields listed above. The authors draw on published enrollment and outcome data from VCCS and interview data collected from eight of the 23 community colleges implementing the G3 program to examine college-level G3 outreach, recruitment, and enrollment strategies and the process for awarding G3 aid.

Unlike vouchers and tax credit scholarships that do not allow parents to customize their children's education, Education savings accounts (ESAs) provide funding to pay for part-time classes at public and private schools, tutoring, curricula, services for special needs, and more. As navigating the opportunities that come with ESAs can be difficult, there is a growing movement to include "choice navigators" as an eligible expense in ESA programs, which can inform parents what educational opportunities are available and help tailor an education program for their children. This paper examines several key elements, including determining the types of navigation services that parents need in the changing education landscape; identifying best practices that states can adopt to simplify ESA navigation; tapping into the experiences of current ESA users and traditional homeschoolers; and deciding whether there are policies that can encourage an adequate supply of navigators without creating counterproductive rules.

Most selective colleges implemented test-optional admissions during the pandemic, making college entrance exam scores optional for applicants. We draw on descriptive, two-way fixed effects, and event study methods to examine variation in test-optional implementation during the pandemic and how implementation relates to selectivity and enrollment. For "test-optional" colleges during the pandemic, we found substantial variation in policy type (e.g., test optional, test free) and whether the policy extended to all applicants and scholarship consideration. Findings suggest test-optional implementation related to increases in Black student enrollment, mostly at moderately selective colleges and when policies extended to all applicants and scholarships. At highly selective colleges, findings suggest test-optional implementation related to an increase in applications but not consistent gains in enrollment.

Promise programs are discussed as a policy movement that began with the 2005 launch of the Kalamazoo Promise. Since then, programs bearing the Promise label or sharing similar features have spread across the higher educational landscape, appearing in most states and across postsecondary sectors. Simultaneously, scholarly literature discussing these programs has burgeoned. And yet, scholars and others are unable to formulate a clear conception of what a Promise program is and what if anything sets such a program apart from other scholarship programs (e.g., state need-based grants). In this paper, we examine how scholars have discussed these programs over time. We begin with the initial theorization of the Kalamazoo Promise as a case and observe its use as a prototype in the formulation of a general model once "Promise program" was established as a category. We follow how the spread and transformation of "Promise programs" was reflected in repeated partial reconceptualization. We find three competing conceptual models emerging in sequence: 1) a thick, place-based causal model derived as a generalization of the Kalamazoo Promise, 2) a thin empirical model crafted in the aftermath of the launch of the Tennessee Promise, and 3) a partially acknowledged minimal or symbolic model advanced haltingly in response to critiques of last-dollar community college state programs. Scholarly conceptualization is largely reactive to empirical program diffusion and transformation, though scholarly idealization may have played a role in this diffusion itself.

Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal financial assistance, including college athletics programs. Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is responsible for enforcing Title IX by investigating complaints, negotiating agreements with colleges to address concerns, and monitoring agreements. US Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review opportunities for women college athletes. This report examines (1) college athletic opportunities for women and (2) the extent to which Education oversees compliance with Title IX college athletics requirements. GAO analyzed the most recent available Education data reported by colleges for academic year 2021-2022 and analyzed OCR case management data for academic years 2008-2009 through 2021-2022, the most recent data available. GAO reviewed documentation for a nongeneralizable sample of 26 of 79 publicly available OCR athletics cases, selected to include a variety of athletics issues. GAO also interviewed Education officials and college athletic stakeholder groups, and reviewed federal laws and regulations.

In the 2022-23 school year, Arizona began implementation of a "universal voucher" program through which all school-age students are eligible for a voucher, and families can use public funding to underwrite private or homeschool education for their children. Universal vouchers in Arizona are an expansion of the existing Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program, which was targeted to students with special education needs or in specific circumstances. To better understand this program's impact on Arizona public schools, this report undertook a financial review of the expanded Arizona ESA program using publicly available data from the state budget, which details total state expenditures and student enrollment; Arizona Department of Education (ADE) quarterly reports to the State Board of Education, which detail the number of ESA applications received, approved, and denied; and ADE enrollment figures. The authors analyzed student enrollment in the program, the combined cost of the earlier enacted ESA program and the new universal voucher program, and their effects on education funding in the state. This report outlines the cost estimates and calculations in detail.

Veterans who received technical training in the military may be well suited to pursue degrees in STEM. The Edith Nourse Rogers STEM Scholarship provides up to $30,000 to assist veterans with continuing qualifying STEM programs after they exhaust their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 includes a provision for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to provide an interim and final assessment of the Rogers STEM scholarship program. This final assessment: (1) reports the number of veterans that pursued and obtained STEM degrees using the Rogers STEM scholarship; and (2) evaluates how consistently VA processes Rogers STEM scholarship applications. GAO analyzed VA administrative data from August 2019 to June 2023, the most recently available data at the time of GAO's analysis. GAO also held four discussion groups with VA staff who process scholarship applications and reviewed relevant VA documents.

The Alaska Performance Scholarship (APS) rewards students who strive to excel in high school and continue their education in degree and certificate programs in Alaska. This report covers the high school, postsecondary, Alaska residency, and workforce outcomes of the APS program between Fall 2011-2023. [This report was prepared by Resource Data, Inc.]

In 2015, Tennessee launched Tennessee Promise (TN Promise), one of the most comprehensive and well-funded statewide free-college scholarship programs in the country. To support TN Promise students, and especially those from the lowest-income households, tnAchieves, a key partner facilitating all non-financial components of TN Promise, implemented completion coaching across the state's 13 community colleges beginning in fall 2018. In partnership with tnAchieves, Research for Action (RFA) conducted a three-year mixed methods study to evaluate tnAchieves' completion coaching program, focusing on the relative effectiveness of proactive versus reactive coaching. The study included four parts: (1) an analysis of impact on student outcomes; (2) an implementation study; (3) an exploratory study of dosage effects; and (4) a cost analysis. The impact study used a randomized control trial (RCT) design that randomly assigned the fall 2019 Promise cohort to proactive or reactive coaching conditions. In this report, study findings are summarized and implications for program and policy development are discussed. The study contributes valuable insights to the field of college coaching and TN Promise programs, shedding light on the effectiveness of such programs in supporting students from low-income backgrounds.

This pilot study examines digital SAT® score relationships with first-year college performance. Results show that digital SAT scores predict college performance as well as paper and pencil SAT scores, and that digital SAT scores meaningfully improve our understanding of a student's readiness for college above high school grade point average (HSGPA) alone. In this study, there was a 22% improvement in the prediction of college performance when the SAT and HSGPA were used together, instead of using the HSGPA alone. For STEM majors, the added SAT value was 38%. Similar results were found when the outcome examined was course credits earned in the first year, a metric for understanding student progress toward degree completion. Findings from this study show that the SAT remains a powerful tool for understanding students' readiness for college, for course placement and academic major field decisions, scholarship and honors program decisions, and identifying students who may need academic support.

This First Look publication provides the first results of the 2019-20 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:20), the most comprehensive national study of student financing of postsecondary education in the United States. This report includes information for about 80,800 undergraduate students and 19,700 graduate students attending 2,200 postsecondary institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This report describes the percentages of students receiving various types of financial aid and average amounts received, by type of institution attended, gender, race/ethnicity, attendance pattern, and income level. Percentages and average amounts are additionally described by dependency status for undergraduate students and by graduate program for graduate students. Supplemental tables feature state-level percentages of students receiving aid and average amounts received by undergraduate students. [For the summary, see ED629548. For the supplemental tables, see ED629549.]

This First Look report presents selected findings about student financial aid during the 2019-20 academic year. These findings are based on data from the 2019-20 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:20). NPSAS:20 is a national study of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled any time between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020, in institutions that can participate in federal financial aid programs. The main purpose of NPSAS:20 is to measure how students and their families pay for postsecondary education and, particularly, their receipt of federal student aid given through Title IV of the Higher Education Act. Data used in this report are from about 80,800 undergraduate and 19,700 graduate student survey respondents attending approximately 2,200 institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. This report classifies financial aid by type (grants, loans, work-study, and other) and source (federal, state, institution, employer, and other private sources). [For the full report, see ED629547. For the supplemental tables, see ED629549.]

The 'Higher Education Policy Statement and Reform Consultation' was launched in February 2022 with responses required by May 2022. This online consultation included 16 closed questions, which have been analysed quantitatively, and 29 open text boxes, which have been analysed qualitatively and the frequency of themes summarised quantitatively. The consultation was designed to gain views on proposals for higher education reform in relation to student number controls (SNCs), minimum eligibility requirements (MERs), maximum fee and loan limits for foundation years, eligibility for a state scholarship and growing high-quality level 4 and 5 provision. This consultation document also sets out: (1) how the Government is investing in higher education to prioritise provision that results in better outcomes for students, the economy and society; and (2) how the Government plans to tackle the rising cost of the system to taxpayers, while reducing debt levels for students and graduates. [This report was written by York Consulting.]

Just decades ago, the internet was an entirely new concept, but it's become second nature for billions of people and is now embedded into daily life across the world. While the internet is old news, there are recent technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and the cloud that have gone from niche, specialized roles in the global economy to the mainstream. This rapid and widespread digitalization has changed the nature of work, and as a result, digital skills are now regarded as essential for the modern workforce. While demand for digital skills is growing, unfortunately supply is lower than it needs to be. Workforce shortages persist across the tech industry with employers struggling to find skilled talent that is prepared for digital roles. A 2021 Rand Corporation report found that the global digital skills gap was widening due to the following factors: tech talent outpacing an already short supply; high costs and disorganized approaches to traditional education that increase barriers to learning; access to digital infrastructure and skills limited by socio-economic status. These findings highlight the barriers confronting workers who want to acquire digital skills. Policymakers around the world need to tackle this problem, both to ensure their industries and businesses can keep pace with the rate and scale of technological innovation, but also to ensure current and future workers will have more opportunities to develop the skills needed to succeed in changing labor markets.

For more than 37 years, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) has advocated on behalf of Hispanic higher education in the U.S. and around the world. The mission of the association is to Champion Hispanic Success in Higher Education. HACU fulfills its mission by: promoting the development of member colleges and universities; improving access to and the quality of postsecondary educational opportunities for Hispanic students; and meeting the needs of business, industry and government through the development and sharing of resources, information and expertise. The Annual Report highlights advocacy efforts, HACU's membership, conferences and events, financials, leadership programs, student services and activities supported by HACU's staff at its National Headquarters in San Antonio, Texas and regional offices in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, California. [For the 2021 report, see ED620469.]

This report provides a brief overview of the major provisions of the Higher Education Act (HEA), organized by title and part. Appendix A of this report provides detailed appropriations figures for HEA programs, from FY2019 through FY2023. Appendix B gives a brief overview of the General Education Provisions Act, which applies to the majority of federal education programs administered by Department of Education (ED), including those programs authorized by the HEA. Appendix C provides information related to the eight comprehensive reauthorizations that the HEA has undergone.

Recently new types of scholarships have emerged known as promise scholarships. A promise scholarship aims to increase collegiate attainment by promising financial aid to eligible students. Promise scholarships differ from traditional scholarships in that promise scholarships are non-competitive and not necessarily needs based. Typical eligibility criteria for promise scholarships include a set minimum GPA and residence within a specific geographic area. Utah's Regents' Scholarship could be considered a promise scholarship. For Regents', the criteria included a minimum GPA of 3.0 with no grade below a "C" and residence within Utah for high school grades 9 through 12; specific coursework was also required. This brief studies the effects of the Regent's Scholarship awards finding that recipients earned more associate and bachelor's degrees in time than similar students, required less institutional and federal support, and helped more underrepresented populations complete degrees on time.

Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) conducted original research on an often-overlooked group of students--parents with children--as they struggle to make ends meet while pursuing academic degrees and certificates. Student parents often face enormous financial barriers to academic success. They report high financial insecurity including issues with food, housing and other basic needs. For students with children, borrowing for postsecondary education may mean accumulating debt without improved labor market outcomes or the financial ability to pay off loans. This is because the financial barriers and logistical challenges, such as inadequate access to reliable child care, student parents face may result in leaving college early without a credential, which has implications for future earnings.

TransferBOOST (Bachelor's Opportunity Options that are Straightforward and Transparent) is a multi-year state-level initiative developed to provide students with affordable, quality, well-supported two- to four-year pathways. Affordability matters a great deal for transfer students, but it has typically not been understood or prioritized. The IHEP and HCM teams joined forces with rpk GROUP to offer technical assistance to TransferBOOST institutions and state partners to make strategic finance and college affordability a signature feature of the initiative. The second brief in the series outlines the steps partnerships took and offers guidance on how institutions can use the Transfer Affordability Financial Tool. It also provides clear steps for how states can support institutions in improving transfer affordability. [This report was written with contributions from Katie Hagan. For "BOOSTing Student Success through Equitable and Affordable Transfer Pathways: Lessons Learned for Higher Education Policymakers and Practitioners from the TransferBOOST Initiative," see ED628654. For "BOOSTing Transfer Partnerships to Promote Equitable and Affordable Transfer Pathways," see ED628655.]

In order to realize all the benefits of parental-choice programs, advocates, policymakers, and participating schools have to pay more attention to implementation challenges, both when designing parental-choice policies and after new programs are enacted. This report discusses both categories of implementation challenges. The first category--challenges that result from policy design--includes features of many programs that make them difficult to implement, such as limits on the tax benefits available in scholarship tax-credit programs, low scholarship amounts, and eligibility restrictions. The second category--challenges that occur after programs are enacted--result from advocates' and participating schools' failure to take steps that would increase the likelihood of programmatic success, such as prioritizing academic improvement among program participants, better informing parents about the choices available to them, and encouraging the development of more and better schools and school networks. This report focuses on "private-school-choice" programs--that is, programs that enable students to use public resources for private-school tuition. To the extent that education savings account (ESA) funds are used to enable participants to attend private schools, as they will be in many, if not most, cases, the report addresses implementation issues affecting ESAs. While the policy landscape is shifting rapidly, and more states undoubtedly will enact universal ESAs in the months and years to come--the vast majority of parental-choice programs are, and will continue to be, limited in scope and eligibility, necessitating continued attention to the issues addressed in this report critical to their success.

This report summarizes teacher workforce challenges and recent initiatives in Texas that are shaping the state of the educator workforce in important ways. Ongoing teacher shortages have led to the creation of a wide range of pathways into the profession, featuring varying types and amounts of training. A growing body of research demonstrates that these differences in pathways are associated with meaningful differences in teachers' knowledge, skills, and effectiveness, as well as the rates at which they enter and leave the profession. These differences have implications for student learning, school management, and equity, since the districts that have the most difficulty hiring fully prepared teachers are those that serve the most students of color and students from low-income families. This report reviews the emerging research; describes the substantial efforts Texas leaders and institutions are making to address concerns about workforce preparation and stability; and provides additional actionable, research-based policy recommendations. [Funding for this report was provided by the Charles Butt Foundation. For the Research Brief, see ED630217.]

Systemic challenges for the Texas teacher workforce result from a large yearly demand for new teachers, exacerbated by high and climbing teacher attrition rates. As a result of these challenges, a large majority of new teachers are now hired before they complete preparation. Assigned disproportionately to students from low-income families and students of color, these less-prepared teachers are demonstrably less effective and less likely to stay than fully prepared teachers, stimulating further shortages. This study examines these conditions; describes the substantial work underway in Texas to address teacher shortages and stabilize the teacher workforce; and synthesizes evidence about policy interventions that can help address the key factors influencing workforce stability. These include investing in high-quality preparation models; reducing financial barriers to entry for teacher candidates; increasing teacher compensation; supporting improvements to teacher induction and working conditions; and improving state educator workforce data. [Funding for this report was provided by the Charles Butt Foundation. For the full report, see ED630218.]

The "South Carolina Higher Education Statistical Abstract" is a comprehensive, single-source compilation of tables and graphs which report data frequently requested by the governor, legislators, college and university staff, other state government officials, and the general public. The 2023 edition of the Statistical Abstract marks the 45th year of this valuable publication. This "Abstract" includes the most recent statistics on enrollment, degrees awarded, faculty, tuition and fees, funding, and other factual data. Relevant terminology is listed in the introduction to each section.

In this brief, the authors explore how state-level decisions in New Hampshire and Vermont manifest in the early childhood education and care sector, through the lens of the interstate Upper Valley region. They demonstrate the significant differences in the reach and adequacy of child care financial assistance programs ("child care scholarships") across state lines, with Vermont's program setting family income eligibility thresholds higher and delivering higher-value reimbursements to child care providers than New Hampshire's program. While scholarships are key for widening low-income families' access to high quality care, they are not a panacea. Not all eligible families participate in child care scholarship programs. Those who do may still be required to pay substantial cost shares. Similarly, not all providers accept scholarships as payment, due to low reimbursement rates and administrative burdens. The authors identify key policy opportunities to strengthen scholarships' impact, including expanding family eligibility, increasing reimbursement rates to providers, and encouraging providers to participate in scholarship programs. [This brief is part of the "Early Childhood in the Upper Valley Series." For the prior brief in this series, "Changing Child Care Supply in New Hampshire and Vermont's Upper Valley. National Issue Brief #166," see ED629709.]

For 16 years, Sallie Mae has surveyed college students and parents of undergraduate students about their attitudes toward higher education and how they're paying for it. This year's report explores education funding sources--from family income and savings to scholarships, grants, and borrowed funds--and evaluates trends in payment strategies over time. This year's report provides learnings about families' awareness of the financial aid process including researching and applying for scholarships, completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®), and understanding financial aid offers. The report also considers the steps undergraduate families took to plan for paying for higher education. Finally, for the first time, this report explores how students attending public Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) approach higher education financing. The research was conducted between March 31, 2023, and May 8, 2023. [For the 2022 report, see ED624387.]

It has been four years since Mike DeWine was first sworn in to serve as Ohio's 70th governor, joined by Jon Husted as lieutenant governor. From the very beginning, Governor DeWine requested that his Cabinet listen carefully to the people of the state and then proceed to act with a sense of urgency to strengthen and improve the great state of Ohio. This annual "State of Higher Education Report" highlights 2022, and provides a brief summary of what the DeWine-Husted Administration has accomplished in its first four years leading Ohio -- with a promise to build on this record in the new term. [For the 2021 report, see ED627875.]

Nebraska does not currently have any private educational choice programs, but recent legislative pushes have brought options such as education savings accounts (ESAs) into the spotlight. ESAs allow parents to withdraw their children from public district or charter schools and receive a deposit of public funds into government-authorized savings accounts with restricted, but multiple, uses. The characteristics of Nebraska's private school sector can inform policy debates surrounding the potential creation of educational choice programs, such as ESAs. From March 31 to May 23 2022, EdChoice administered a survey of Nebraska private school leaders. This brief provides a descriptive analysis of the results of that survey, including tuition and fees, the number of open seats, regulatory concerns, and interest in educational choice programs.

The Indiana Choice Scholarship Program (ICSP), which began in fall 2011, is a state taxpayer-funded financial aid program that helps low and lower-middle income Hoosiers to send their children to the private K-12 school of their choice. This voucher program has been extremely popular among families, as the number of students receiving scholarships has increased from 3,911 students in academic year (AY) 2012 to 36,707 by 2020. This report addresses two questions regarding the fiscal effects of the ICSP up through and including academic year (AY) 2020: (1) The fiscal effects of the ICSP on the state of Indiana budget; and (2) The fiscal effects of the ICSP on local school corporation budgets (in Indiana public school districts are termed "school corporations"). The estimates in this report suggest that the ICSP has provided modest fiscal benefits to taxpayers to date--however, the fiscal savings per scholarship recipient are quite large. Therefore, as more students access the ISCP the savings to Indiana taxpayers will increase significantly. The major findings include: (1) The ICSP saved state taxpayers a total of $42.5 million in 2019-20. These savings translate to savings of $1,158 per scholarship student--a significant sum on a per student basis; and (2) The ICSP yielded a total of $60.6 million in savings to local public school corporations in 2017-18, which was the most recent year with complete data available. These savings to local school corporations were $1,709 per student. These findings are not surprising given that the average scholarship awards are below both total expenditures per student and state per pupil funding as well.

The goal of "The 123s" is to present the increasingly large body of private school choice research in a clear and easy-to-read format and cite the relevant studies so that anyone who is interested in the individual results can easily find them and read in more detail. This report is divided into 11 sections. The first section summarizes the number of studies and how many come to which conclusion. The following sections present the eight outcomes covered in this publication, including school safety and climate--a new subject of study. They are followed by a list of reviews that other researchers conducted about the eight outcomes covered. The last section discusses the strengths and limitations of research on school choice. Finally, tables in the Appendix present the various programs, organized by type. [For the 2022 report, see ED625418.]