A Rapid Analysis of New Ed Department Data

By Clare McCann and Ben Miller. Today, the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics released its quadrennial survey of student financial aid. We are publishing our own rapid analysis of the new data, highlighting trends in borrowing and grant aid across different incomes, institutions, and other variables.
1. High Borrowing Rates among Pell Grant Students
These latest data from the Department of Education show that students receiving Pell Grants last year still had to employ student loans to pay for their college educations. In particular, more and more students at community colleges and private nonprofit universities had to borrow to pay for school. Students at for-profit colleges who receive Pell Grants still borrowed at the highest rate of any institution type, however, at 87.5 percent. More...