School Finance

Preschool

commentary
Making Preschool Investments Count Through the American Families Plan
The American Families Plan would address disparities in preschool access by adding $200 billion for high-quality preschool for all three- and four-year-olds. How can we make sure that this historic investment, if approved by Congress, counts?
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Jun 3, 2021
The RAND Blog
Lynn A. Karoly, Jill S. Cannon

School Finance

commentary
Community College Enrollment Is Way Down. That Could Be Bad for Economic Recovery
Enrollment at America's community colleges is down by nearly 10 percent compared with before the pandemic, leaving community colleges in a perilous financial position. Without intervention, these institutions may not weather the storm.
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Nov 17, 2020
The RAND Blog
Jenna W. Kramer @j_w_kramer, Shelly Culbertson @SC_Culbertson, et al.
Postsecondary Education

commentary
College in America Could Be Changed Forever
COVID-19 is threatening to upend the models that both public and private higher education depend on in the United States. As universities consider whether to postpone in-person classes until next year, many parents and students may be questioning the value of a traditional higher education.
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Jul 7, 2020
CNN
Charles A. Goldman, Rita T. Karam
Postsecondary Education

commentary
Income Share Agreements: What's Risky, What's Promising, and What We Still Need to Know
While policymakers debate options to address college affordability and the nation's mounting student loan debt, an alternative education financing model has been gaining ground in a handful of schools and state legislatures: the income share agreement. While terms vary from institution to institution, they are all based on the same premise: The more income a graduate makes, the more they will pay back.
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Jun 5, 2019
The RAND Blog
Melanie A. Zaber @MelanieZaber, Kathryn A. Edwards
Postsecondary Education

commentary
Is College Worth the Expense? Yes, It Is
Many American students struggle with the soaring cost of higher education. And for many college students, debt can have severe negative implications. But on balance, the benefits of a college degree appear to outweigh the costs.
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May 22, 2017
Inside Sources
Rafiq Dossani
Postsecondary Education

commentary
The High Cost of Free College
Tuition subsidies may encourage institutions to raise tuition, since the government would foot the bill. One possible solution: develop and implement policies that encourage greater productivity from higher education institutions.
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Aug 1, 2016
U.S. News & World Report
Trey Miller
Postsecondary Education

commentary
Reframing the 'Free College' Debate
Framing the future of college as a debate about whether it should be free is a lost opportunity to discuss what's really wrong with higher education in America—and a missed chance to help young Americans regain lost competitiveness in the workforce.
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Apr 14, 2016
The Hill
Diana Gehlhaus
Educational Institutions

commentary
The Shared Savings Model: An Innovative Way to Attack Rapidly Rising College Costs
The challenge facing policymakers is how to lessen the college cost pressure felt by families while incentivizing institutions to innovate to reduce cost and improve quality. What if cost savings from increased productivity were quantified and a portion returned to institutions?
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Oct 22, 2015
The RAND Blog
Trey Miller, Van L. Davis
College-Bound Students

commentary
Cost of College in the United States
For middle- to lower-income families in the U.S., in particular, the costs associated with attending a four-year university are becoming nearly impossible to bear. More and more students are ending up with significant debt after graduating from college, putting financial pressure on them at the outset of their professional careers.
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Jan 16, 2015
EduTech Magazine
Marlon Graf
College-Bound Students

commentary
College Ratings and Affordable Education
There are reasons to believe American students from the middle- and lower-income tiers aren't making affordable college choices. Can a new ratings system help them make better, more affordable decisions?
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Dec 24, 2014
The RAND Blog
Rafiq Dossani
commentary
Are Youth Putting Off Marriage Because of Their Student Loan Debt?
Women with higher loan balances may be less likely to get married than their peers with lower or no loan balances. But as time goes on, young adults adjust to their post-college financial situation and eventually get promotions, earn raises, obtain other assets, and get married.
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Jun 26, 2014
The RAND Blog
Robert Bozick
Postsecondary Education

commentary
Making Colleges More Affordable
President Obama has released a plan to make colleges more affordable for the middle class. The plan calls for linking federal student aid to college performance, capping student loans at 10% of income, and incentivizing innovative instructional approaches to cut costs and improve quality.
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Aug 26, 2013
The RAND Blog
Rafiq Dossani
Educational Equity

commentary
Preserving Access and Quality in an Era of Rising University Tuition Fees
Many countries have long traditions of full or partial government funding for higher education, but as they struggle with fiscal pressures, they seek ways to shift costs to users. Implementing greater cost sharing without coherent policies to mitigate its impact on students and institutions threatens to worsen both student access and institutional quality.
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Sep 28, 2012
wise-qatar.org
Charles A. Goldman, Megan Clifford, et al.

Quoted

There is no question that the Iraq War upended the balance of power in the Middle East, but the war has had a similarly profound effect on American politics as well. It left sizeable swaths of the American population on both the left and the right questioning not only whether the United States should conduct armed nation-building in the future, but to what degree, if any, the United States should be militarily involved abroad at all.

Raphael S. Cohen

Director, Strategy and Doctrine Program, RAND Project AIR FORCE

Source: The RAND Blog

The Iraq War had profound consequences for U.S.-Iran relations, as it turned Iraq into a site of indirect conflict between the United States and Iran. The political instability that accompanied the war, moreover, created an opening for Iran to increase its influence in Iraqi domestic politics and internal affairs.

Michelle Grisé

Policy Researcher

Source: The RAND Blog

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School Finance

Making Preschool Investments Count Through the American Families Plan

Community College Enrollment Is Way Down. That Could Be Bad for Economic Recovery

College in America Could Be Changed Forever

Income Share Agreements: What's Risky, What's Promising, and What We Still Need to Know

Is College Worth the Expense? Yes, It Is

The High Cost of Free College

Reframing the 'Free College' Debate

The Shared Savings Model: An Innovative Way to Attack Rapidly Rising College Costs

Cost of College in the United States

College Ratings and Affordable Education

Are Youth Putting Off Marriage Because of Their Student Loan Debt?

Making Colleges More Affordable

Preserving Access and Quality in an Era of Rising University Tuition Fees

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