The coming Public Service Loan Forgiveness bonanza (Jason Delisle, Brookings)

https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-coming-public-service-loan-forgiveness-bonanza/

Do state subsidies for public universities favor the affluent? (Jason Delisle, Kim Dancy, Brookings)

Public universities typically charge students less than the full cost of education, using funds from state and local government and other sources to cover the difference. This indirect subsidy is one of the largest forms of aid in America’s higher education system but is less understood in the policy community than grants and loans, which are provided directly to students in visible amounts, making them easier to analyze. Researchers and journalists aim to understand these indirect subsidies through proxies such as per-student spending, or per-student state appropriations. These simple analyses have led many to conclude that indirect subsidies at public universities favor students from affluent families. However, neither of these measures provides accurate information about the subsidy a student receives because they do not account for the tuition that students pay.

http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2016/07/28-do-state-subsidies-for-public-universities-favor-affluent-delisle-dancy

Headache for Hillary's higher education plan (Jason Delisle, Brookings)

Outstanding student debt grew rapidly in the years following the great recession, as greater numbers of students enrolled in college and borrowed more. Rising college prices surely contributed to that trend, too. Because the bulk of that debt is issued through the federal student loan program, policymakers often respond with proposals to cut the interest rate the government charges. Unfortunately, those proposals hardly change the college access equation—the benefits borrowers receive are trickled out one month at time over decades-long repayment terms after they’ve left school. That point is lost on many lawmakers and presidential candidates, even those who have otherwise put in the time and effort to develop a higher education platform, such as Hillary Clinton.

Continue reading here ...