Publications About Access and Financial Aid

Following is a list of all Education Trust publications arranged from newest to oldest.

If you know the title of a specific publication but cannot find it, type the name in the Search box at the top of this page. To find a publication on a specific topic, go to the Filter Publications box and choose a topic or audience from the drop-down menu. Or you can click on one of the “tags” beneath a publication listed below to view all our publications on that topic.

All Education Trust publications are available as free downloads. Publications marked with an asterisk (*) are available in print. Please contact rsmiles@edtrust.org for more information.

Lifting the Fog on Inequitable Financial-Aid Policies

At every level, from the federal government to the campus, spending has shifted away from the students who most need support toward those who will attend college no matter what.  This report attempts to “lift the fog” on inequitable financial-aid policies to show how all decision makers can work to make college more affordable for the lowest income students. 

Publication date: 
November 14 2011
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Priced Out: How the Wrong Financial-Aid Policies Hurt Low-Income Students

In “Priced Out: How the Wrong Financial-Aid Policies Hurt Low-Income Students,” The Education Trust demonstrates how much low-income students must stretch to pay for college, even after all sources of grant aid are taken into account.

The report finds that just five of nearly 1,200 four-year colleges and universities have student bodies that are at least 30 percent low-income and offer low-income students a reasonable chance at a bachelor’s degree at a relatively affordable cost.

Publication date: 
June 1 2011

Subprime Opportunity: The Unfulfilled Promise of For-Profit Colleges and Universities*

Three years after the U.S. housing market collapse, our country continues to suffer the effects of misplaced priorities and weak regulation of subprime mortgage lenders. Meanwhile, as Ed Trust’s report “Subprime Opportunity” warns, the most vulnerable Americans are being targeted by yet another set of corporations peddling access to the American dream but delivering little more than crippling debt. This time, it’s underregulated for-profit colleges.

Publication date: 
November 22 2010
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Opportunity Adrift: Our Flagship Universities Are Straying From Their Public Mission*

Public flagship and research universities spend millions of dollars every year to aid wealthy students who don't need it, while providing inadequate support to low-income and minority students who do. Some flagships are stepping up to the challenge and focusing on access and success. An account of their performance and progress appears at the end of this report.

Publication date: 
January 13 2010
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Promise Abandoned: How Policy Choices and Institutional Practices Restrict College Opportunities

This report sharply criticizes trends in federal, state, and college practices that discourage low-income and minority students from enrolling and graduating from college.

Publication date: 
August 1 2006
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Engines of Inequality: Diminishing Equity in the Nation’s Premier Public Universities*

This report holds to account most flagship universities for limiting access to minority students.

Publication date: 
January 1 2006
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