By Andrew Kreighbaum. An analysis of new student loan data finds the number of federal loans in default at the end of 2016 increased 14 percent from 2015. Cumulative defaults -- defined in federal law as nine months past due -- stand at $137.4 billion, according to the analysis by the Consumer Federation of America. Read more...

By Rick Seltzer. Politics, geography and history all prevent the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education from following Georgia's consolidation path. Read more...

By Rick Seltzer. About 40 percent of students who decided not to go to their college or university of first choice cited reasons related to costs. Read more...

By Rick Seltzer. A new study from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business found a positive relationship between state funding levels for higher education and the share of legislators who attended the public colleges and universities in their states. In other words, legislatures where more lawmakers have ties to in-state colleges and universities provide more funding to those public institutions. Read more...

By Rick Seltzer. Many experts on the program agree it needs changing with a greater emphasis on low-income students. But few agree that the large cut being sought by the Trump administration will help. Read more...

By Rick Seltzer. Institutional costs per degree at California’s two public four-year higher education systems dropped by almost one-fifth from 1987 to 2013, according to a new report from the Public Policy Institute of California. Read more...