-
2 months ago | 
newamerica.org | Edward Conroy |Da'Shon Carr |Tia Caldwell
In February 2024, the New America Higher Education Policy Team submitted a letter of support for Maryland's House Bill 0463. The bill would require the Maryland Higher Education Commission to collect data regarding the parental status of students from each public institution of higher education in the state.
-
Jan 9, 2025 | 
newamerica.org | Tia Caldwell
When Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump visited my college campus to debate in 2016, my friends and I were determined to make a statement. Working in shifts for over a week, we transformed a 6-foot-tall rubber ball into a giant midnight-black orb, leaving behind a mountain of empty spray paint cans. Then, we added the final touch in contrasting white: giant numbers reading $1.387 trillion—the total amount of outstanding student loan debt at the time.
-
Oct 22, 2024 | 
newamerica.org | Tia Caldwell
For over four and a half years, defaulting on a federal student loan was impossible. When the pandemic struck in March 2020, the government paused student loan payments and continued extending the pause until last October. Even after payments resumed, borrowers received another year of protection through an on-ramp that shielded them from the worst consequences of non-payment, including negative credit reporting and falling into default.
-
Aug 12, 2024 | 
newamerica.org | Tia Caldwell
The Pell Grant program is the United States' largest investment in grant aid to make college more affordable. In 2023, the program provided 6.5 million low- and middle-income undergraduate students an average of $4,831 to help cover college costs. Students with the lowest incomes, from families making less than around $30,000, were eligible for up to $7,395. The Pell program works like an entitlement: every student who applies and meets the eligibility criteria is guaranteed a grant.
-
Jan 17, 2024 | 
newamerica.org | Tia Caldwell |Sarah Sattelmeyer
Almost 7 million people, about one in six federal student loan borrowers, are in default on their loans. By all accounts, defaulting on a student loan is an upsetting and financially calamitous experience. Borrowers default when they miss 270 days’ worth of payments. Soon after, they can have their tax refunds and paychecks garnished, their credit scores fall, and their eligibility for more student aid revoked.
-
Dec 14, 2023 | 
newamerica.org | Tia Caldwell |Sarah Sattelmeyer
Retirement-age borrowers are one of the fastest growing segments of the population with student loans, increasing 500 percent over the last 20 years. Despite this population’s significant growth, a lack of government data has made it hard to piece together a clear understanding of the challenges faced by these borrowers. For years, a 2016 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) supplied some of the only administrative data on older borrowers’ default rates.
-
Dec 11, 2023 | 
newamerica.org | Tia Caldwell |Sarah Sattelmeyer
Unaffordable student loans are often seen as a problem afflicting young people, but in 2022, 3.5 million Americans over the age of 60 held $1.25 billion in student loan debt. The number of Americans approaching retirement age with student loan debt skyrocketed over 500 percent in roughly the last two decades. New America has been investigating the reasons behind the growth and exploring what the change means for seniors and their families.
-
Nov 3, 2023 | 
newamerica.org | Tia Caldwell |Sarah Sattelmeyer
This blog is the final piece in a series focused on older Americans with student debt. The first post finds that many older borrowers are repaying debt from their own education. The second post uses survey data to explore the demographics and financial well-being of seniors repaying their college loans. And the third post tells the stories of some of these borrowers. Former college students report taking out loans to invest in their future financial security.
-
Oct 19, 2023 | 
newamerica.org | Da'Shon Carr |Tia Caldwell |Hilary Tackie |Edward Conroy
New America sat down for a conversation with Amanda Winters, Program Director, and Portia Polk, Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Best Practices at the National Governors Association (NGA), to discuss the state policy efforts they are doing to elevate the voices and needs of student parents.
-
Oct 5, 2023 | 
newamerica.org | Da'Shon Carr |Sarah Sattelmeyer |Tia Caldwell |Edward Conroy
New America sat down with the Institute of Women's Policy Research's (IWPR) Nina Besser Doorley, Vice President of Policy and Strategic Initiatives and Afet Dundar, Senior Research Director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), for a conversation on how they are using policy research to close gaps and advance equity for the one in five college students that are student parents.
