Research and Publications - Education Policy Center

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Browsing Research and Publications - Education Policy Center by Author "Grant, Phillip D."

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    The Impact of New Pell Grant Restrictions on Community Colleges: A Three State Study of Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi
    (Education Policy Center, 2013-01) Katsinas, Stephen G.; Davis, James E.; Friedel, Janice N.; Koh, Jonathan P.; Grant, Phillip D.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    From Fall 2011 to Fall 2012, enrollment declined at 47 of the 62 two-year colleges in Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi, and as shown below, changes in Pell Grant eligibility is the major reason why. This report argues that community college students in these three states are highly sensitive to changes in Pell Grant eligibility, and that new restrictions enacted by Congress in June 2012, effective with the Fall 2012 term, have had a dramatically negative impact.Issues of access to postsecondary education have long been an interest of the Education Policy Center at The University of Alabama. The Center has conducted 18 studies over the past five years on rural access issues, and its associates have been involved with numerous additional refereed publications on rural community college finance, STEM, students, and financial aid issues. It is most appropriate that we examine the impact of recent Pell Grant eligibility changes at community collegesin Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
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    Pell Grant's Vital Role in Lifting Up Mississippi
    (Education Policy Center) Katsinas, Stephen G.; Davis, James E.; Koh, Jonathan P.; Grant, Phillip D.
    Recent years have seen significant growth in the federal government’s foundational program to provide for access to college, the Pell Grant program. Nationally, the number of Pell participants have increased by 50% since 2008, from 6 million to 9 million students. This reflects a federal commitment to serve a fast-growing traditional-aged population—there were one million more Americans ages 18 to 24 years old in 2012 than in 2009. For Mississippi students and families, and community colleges, the timing of these increases could not have been better, as the state entered a long recession. The National Bureau of Economic Research, the federal agency that determines when recessions start and end, affixes June 2007 as the recession’s start. In July of 2007, the unemployment rate was above 5% in just 12 states; by July of 2009 it was below 5% in only 3. The “Great Recession” produced double-digit statewide unemployment rates in Mississippi. In October 2012, Mississippi’s statewide unemployment rate of 9.2% was well above the 7.8% national average.4 Only the northeast and coastal regions have lower rates.
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    A Study of Pell Grants in Alabama
    (Education Policy Center, 2012-11-26) Katsinas, Stephen G.; Bray, Nathaniel J.; Koh, Jonathan P.; Grant, Phillip D.; Alabama Commission on Higher Education; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    Participation in the most basic national program to provide access to college, the federal Pell Grant program, has increased by 50% since 2008, from 6 million to 9 million students. The timing of these Pell increases could not have been better for Alabama students and families, coming at the precise time as the nation entered a lengthy period of high unemployment.The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is the non-partisan federal agency that determines when recessions officially start and end. The NBER affixed June 2007 as the recession’s start. In July 2007, as Table 1 shows, the unemployment rate was above 5% in 12 states. By July of 2009 it was below 5% in just 1 state; and had jumped to above 5% in 49 states. It has remained above 5% nationally and in Alabama since then.