While Black graduates from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) seem to be thriving, researchers at UNCF and The Steve Fund took a closer look at the status of mental health on these campuses.
Author: Laurie Arnston
The Shifting Demographics of College Enrollment from 2009 to 2019
An uncertain job market and a precarious economy drove students of all types to enroll in postsecondary education during the Great Recession, but this trend did not continue past the height of the economic downturn. A new report looks at the origins of the college enrollment decline from 2009 to 2019.
EAB Survey Reveals Key Satisfaction and Opt-Out Factors for First-Year Students
EAB surveyed over 12,000 first-year college students to understand their satisfaction, opt-out reasons, and behaviors and preferences across different demographics during their first college term. The results could help colleges adjust their recruitment strategies for changing demands.
Unlevel Playing Fields: Obstacles to Accessing State Financial Aid
Over the past two decades, reduced state investment in higher education has significantly increased tuition and fees at public colleges, disproportionately impacting low-income and marginalized students. The Education Trust evaluated the accessibility and fairness of 26 financial aid programs in 10 states spanning the nation, from California to New York, using state funding data from The National Association of State Student Grant & Aid Programs.
College Football’s Unexpected Impact on Enrollment
In a recent article published by Research in Higher Education, the authors study the enrollment and tuition revenue patterns of 36 institutions that adopted a football team from 2004-2016 to determine if the addition of this sport had a meaningful effect on enrollment numbers, enrollment demographics, or net tuition and fee revenue, compared to institutions that did not adopt a football program.
Time and Money: Why Students Take a Break
A recent study by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) looked into why adult students stop attending college. They found that most students don’t stop because of bad grades. Instead, the main reasons were lack of time, health problems, and financial difficulties.
A Comprehensive Approach to College Mental Health is a Campus-wide Approach
The Jed Foundation has released a report on a decadelong study investigating patterns of student mental health improvements when campuses participated in the JED Campus program. JED Campus is designed to guide schools through a collaborative process of developing comprehensive systems, programs, policies, and customized supports to build upon existing student mental health, substance use, and suicide prevention efforts.
Mental Health Supports Are Key in in Community College Student Success
The Annenberg Institute launched a descriptive study to examine the relationship between academic success and students’ time utilization, campus engagement, financial and mental well-being. The study focuses on community college students and finds that a nationwide increase in adverse mental health among college students intersects with high rates of food and housing insecurity.
Rethinking First-Generation Status
The Common App’s third research brief in its series on first-generation status explores the complexities of detailed parental education levels and their implications for applicants’ college readiness, socioeconomic status, and application behaviors. The report highlights the limitations of focusing on the binary classification of first-generation and continuing-generation status and argues for more granular examination of parental degree attainment.
Unpacking the FAFSA Simplification Act’s Impact on Federal and State Aid Eligibility
The last two decades in higher education policy have seen a push for a more streamlined and less time-consuming version of the FAFSA, which culminated in the FAFSA Simplification Act of 2020. The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association has published a report unpacking many of the changes to FAFSA and how they will impact students pursuing postsecondary education.
Underemployment and Its Long-Term Effects for College Graduates
While higher education is often seen as a key to social mobility and economic opportunity, translating a college degree into a successful career is not automatic. A new report from the Strada Institute for the Future of Work and the Burning Glass Institute finds that many students struggle with this transition, with only about half of graduates with a bachelor’s degree securing employment in a college-level job within one year of graduating.
The Prevalence of Legacy Preference in College Admissions
recent Brookings Institution report, using data from the 2021-22 academic year, provides valuable insights into the prevalence of legacy admissions at U.S. institutions and the intersection of these policies with race-in-admissions policies.