Eric Hoover

New Jersey

Senior Writer at The Chronicle of Higher Education

College access, admissions, inequality in education. Senior writer @chronicle. Believer in baseball, underdogs, long narratives. [email protected]

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Articles

Common Application Takes an In-Depth Look at Independent Students

2 days ago | chronicle.com | Eric Hoover

What’s NewThe number of financially independent students using the Common Application to apply to colleges more than doubled between 2016-17 and 2023-24, according to a new report released on Monday. The first-of-its-kind findings from the Common App shed light on the backgrounds, academic records, application patterns, and enrollment outcomes of so-called nontraditional students, who now represent a majority of all college students in the United States.
A Former Ed. Dept. Official Will Now Be Financial-Aid Officers’ Voice in DC

1 month ago | chronicle.com | Eric Hoover

Melanie Storey has left the U.S. Department of Education, but she will not be stepping away from the political fray in Washington. Storey, who served as director for policy implementation and oversight at the department’s Federal Student Aid (FSA) office for the last five years, will become the next president and chief executive of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the organization announced on Tuesday.
A Former Ed. Dept. Official Will Now Be Financial-Aid Officers’ Voice in DC

1 month ago | chroni.cl | Eric Hoover

Melanie Storey has left the U.S. Department of Education, but she will not be stepping away from the political fray in Washington. Storey, who served as director for policy implementation and oversight at the department’s Federal Student Aid (FSA) office for the last five years, will become the next president and chief executive of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the organization announced on Tuesday.
In Sweeping Letter, Ed. Dept. Says SCOTUS Ruling Applies to All Race-Conscious Programs

2 months ago | chronicle.com | Eric Hoover

Late Friday night, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) put colleges on notice: stamp out all race-conscious policies and programming immediately or risk losing federal funding.
Wait, Freshman Enrollment Actually Increased Last Fall

Jan 13, 2025 | chronicle.com | Eric Hoover

After further review, freshman enrollment increased last fall. On Monday, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center announced that a “methodological error” had affected its previous calculation of the number of first-year students enrolling this past fall. In October, the center published its annual preliminary report stating that freshman enrollment had declined 5 percent compared with the fall of 2023, the first drop since the start of the pandemic.
Looming Declines in High-School Grads Will Mark ‘Inflection Point’ for Higher Ed

Dec 11, 2024 | chronicle.com | Eric Hoover

The number of high-school graduates will reach a record high in 2025 and then decline steadily for many years, according to a new report on the latest projections from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, known as WICHE. During that period, the number of students graduating from public high schools who identify as Hispanic or multiracial will continue to increase while the number of students of all other races and ethnicities will decline.
Amid FAFSA Crisis, Enrollment of 18-Year-Old Freshmen Fell Sharply This Fall

Dec 2, 2024 | chroni.cl | Eric Hoover

Enrollment of 18-year-old freshmen declined by 5 percent this fall compared with last year, according to new analysis from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC). That drop marked a reversal from last fall, when the number of incoming 18-year-olds — a proxy for students enrolling right after high school — increased by 3 percent.
Amid FAFSA Crisis, Enrollment of 18-Year-Old Freshmen Fell Sharply This Fall

Dec 2, 2024 | chronicle.com | Eric Hoover

Enrollment of 18-year-old freshmen declined by 5 percent this fall compared with last year, according to new analysis from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC). That drop marked a reversal from last fall, when the number of incoming 18-year-olds — a proxy for students enrolling right after high school — increased by 3 percent.
Will Submitting the FAFSA Put Undocumented Parents at Risk? This Group Thinks It Could.

Nov 26, 2024 | chronicle.com | Eric Hoover

The message went out to 8,000 people. Late last week, a national college-access organization sent an urgent email to its members: Students who haven’t previously filed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, should “make a considered decision” about whether to do so.
The FAFSA Is Live, Tested, and ‘Already Working’

Nov 21, 2024 | chronicle.com | Eric Hoover

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is now available to all users and running smoothly, the U.S. Department of Education announced on Thursday. You may keep your fingers crossed, if you like. The announcement marks a pivotal moment in the continuing FAFSA saga. Throughout the 2024-25 cycle, technical errors and processing delays stymied students, parents, and college officials, injecting months of chaos into the enrollment process.