The Institute's Accomplishments
Since our creation in 2004 and launch of the Project on Student Debt in 2005, the Institute has become a widely known and highly respected source of research and policy expertise on financial aid, college affordability, and related issues. Our research and analysis has shaped public understanding of financial aid and influenced policy and practice at the federal, state, and college levels. For example:
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The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA) established the new Income-Based Repayment program (IBR), which is modeled directly on our Plan for Fair Loan Payments. By capping student loan payments at a reasonable percentage of income, IBR assures that repayment will be affordable for borrowers who hit hard times.
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We created www.IBRinfo.org to tell consumers about IBR and Public Service Loan Forgiveness, another program established by the CCRAA. The site has drawn more than 90,000 registered users and a million visitors, and provides critical information and updates not available anywhere else.
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Our annual state-by-state analysis of student debt has become an important source of information for the media, other researchers, policymakers, and the public, and is cited in hundreds of news stories every year.
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Our detailed comments and analyses have shaped the U.S. Department of Education's regulations for IBR, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and other student loan issues; improved specific elements of the FAFSA; and helped make important information about federal student aid easier to find online.
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By developing practical solutions for simplifying the financial aid application process, we have renewed public interest in the issue. Both 2008 presidential candidates called for FAFSA simplification in their campaigns, and in early 2010 the Obama Administration began a pilot project allowing some aid applicants to electronically transfer their own tax data into the FAFSA, as proposed in our influential 2007 report, Going to the Source.
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We have formed effective coalitions with dozens of other national and regional organizations representing students, colleges, administrators, counselors, parents, professionals, and other stakeholders. Our work with other groups has focused on issues such ensuring access to fair loan payments, improving consumer protections for private-loan borrowers, and increasing the value of need-based aid.
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Our first California-focused report, Green Lights and Red Tape, found wide variations in community colleges' financial aid policies and practices that affect student access to aid. The response has been enthusiastic and ongoing: the system chancellor publicly praised the report and encouraged schools to re-evaluate their practices; many campuses have made changes based on our recommendations; and administrators have requested detailed follow-up such as trainings and technical assistance. Our findings have also led colleges in other states to examine their practices.
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Our reports on students' lack of access to federal loans at many community colleges have spurred constructive debate about schools' participation in the federal loan program. Denied was the subject of more than 100 news articles, and after our second report, Getting With the Program, the North Carolina state legislature mandated that all community colleges in that state participate in the federal loan program.
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Our online database, College-InSight.org, is the only publicly available, comprehensive source of campus-level data on student income, race, ethnicity, and loan usage. It is widely used by researchers, reporters, policymakers, and college administrators around the country.
