Author: Grace Peasley

I have been a college affordability advocate for decades. When I was an undergraduate at Duke in the 1970s, I graduated with only $2,100 in student loan debt thanks to scholarships, Basic Educational Opportunity Grants (the predecessor of Pell Grants), Work Study jobs, summer jobs, and a small expense allowance from my parents. I estimate […]

Read More… from Capping the Parent PLUS Loan Programs: Good for Students?

Jeff Selingo wrote Dream School for families. College leaders, especially those at tuition-dependent, four-year residential undergraduate institutions, should read it as market research. Across the book, a consistent message emerges: Outside a small group of elite institutions, families increasingly want proof—not promises—of career preparation, hands-on learning, belonging, affordability, and institutional capacity. That means yield is […]

Read More… from Reading Dream School as an Enrollment Strategy: Five Imperatives for College Leaders

My obsessive read this month has been The Signal Solution: How Smart Colleges Stop Chasing Applications and Start Converting Students by Geoff Baird and Teege Mettille. It’s a work of piercing insight, warning that the college admissions process—and by extension higher education writ large—is caught in the middle of a category 5 hurricane. Part 1 […]

Read More… from Examining the Five Forces Changing the College Admissions Process

The recent proliferation of articles regarding Congress’s cap on federal student loans, following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill, has focused primarily on the impact on graduate students who may not be able to borrow 100 percent of the cost of attendance for their graduate degrees, particularly professional degrees. I have never been […]

Read More… from The Impact of High College Cost of Attendance on Low-Income Families