Document Category: Research study (not in a journal)

Improving the IPEDS Student Average Net Price to be More Relevant for Consumers (2023)

This paper examines the limitations of the current IPEDS Student Average Net Price metric and propose data-driven solutions to better inform consumers—particularly students and families from low-income and marginalized backgrounds—about the true cost of attending college. These recommendations align with #RealCollege’s mission to address critical challenges like food and housing insecurity, child care, transportation, and other basic needs that frequently impact students’ ability to afford higher education.

Breaking Barriers: The Hidden Struggles of Student Parents and Housing Insecurity (2025)

Housing insecurity creates significant barriers for student parents, jeopardizing their academic success, economic mobility, and mental health. Addressing these issues through targeted interventions is crucial to support this vulnerable population and ensure they have the opportunity to complete their degrees and improve their families’ long-term outcomes.

What Students Want: Students’ Experiences and the Implications of Enhanced Holistic Supports for Non-Degree Pathways (2024)

What Students Want: Students’ Experiences and the Implications of Enhanced Holistic Supports for Non-Degree Pathways unveils that students and workers pursuing non-degree pathways are navigating higher education systems not designed with their realities in mind, and provides insights on the supports they need to succeed.

Highlights include:

The need for financial and holistic supports like childcare, transportation, and coaching.
Real stories from students balancing family, work, and education to build better futures.
Policy recommendations to make non-degree programs equitable and accessible.

Buying time: Financial aid allows college students to work less while enrolled (2024)

Many empirical studies have established that financial aid improves college attainment. Few have been able to test why. This study used administrative records of employment and earnings to get a more complete picture of students’ finances during college and test one potential mechanism, that financial aid buys students time by allowing them to work less in off-campus jobs. We studied recipients of New Jersey’s need-based Tuition Aid Grant (TAG). We used the eligibility cutoffs of TAG to identify groups of otherwise similar students who received sharply different amounts of aid. A prior study took the same approach and found that TAG increased on-time graduation rates from public universities. At these schools, 80% of TAG recipients worked at some point during the year. We found that when students received additional aid, on average they reduced earnings dollar for dollar.

College Proximity and College Costs: Is it More Expensive to College Proximity and College Costs: Is it More Expensive to Attend a Far-away College? Attend a Far-away College? (2024)

Many scholars have argued that it may be more costly to attend a far-away college than it is to attend a nearby college. If this is true, students who live in areas where colleges are few and far between may face higher costs than those with ample college options. This study assesses the plausibility of this line of reasoning by examining the association between geographic access to higher education, distance traveled to college, and college costs, as indicated by student debt. Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, this study finds that people with lower levels of geographic access travel longer distances to attend college. In addition, people who travel longer distances are more likely to accumulate student debt. Finally, this study finds suggestive evidence that people with lower levels of geographic access tend to accumulate more student debt. These descriptive insights pave the way for future research on this topic. Ultimately, additional research in this area could be one of the keys to understanding and ultimately remedying geographic inequalities in postsecondary outcomes.

The Heterogeneous Effects of College Education on Outcomes Related to Deaths of Despair (2024)

College education features prominently in research on determinants of deaths from substance use disorders and self-harm—outcomes collectively referred to as “deaths of despair” (DoD). Limited attention has been given to whether the protective effects of college education on indicators of despair vary by individuals’ likelihood of college completion. We use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health for 6,145 individuals to test whether the protective effects of college completion on precursors to DoD vary according to individuals’ propensity to attain a college degree. Understanding whether the benefits of college education differ depending on the propensity to complete it is important for designing effective educational policies. Using the heterogeneous treatment effects approach, we find that individuals with a relatively low propensity for graduating from college but who complete it have a lower likelihood of depressive symptoms, binge drinking, prescription drug abuse, and hard drug use.

Food insecurity and lifestyle behaviours in university students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: a comparative survey across three countries (2024)

Background
University students, often unemployed and reliant on low-nutrition foods, are susceptible to food insecurity (FI) with potential physical and mental health challenges. This study explores FI and its impact on lifestyle behaviours among university students.

Methods
A cross-sectional web-based study was performed by sending an online questionnaire to university students in Lebanon, Cyprus, and Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using validated measures, i.e., the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, International Physical Activity Questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener, adjusted linear regression models were performed to assess the associations between country, FI and physical activity, sleep quality, and diet.

Results
In a convenience sample of 611 individuals (350 in Germany, 214 in Lebanon, and 47 in Cyprus) enrolled in the study, 547 provided complete response. 190 (34.7%) experienced FI, of whom 52 (9.5%) were severely food-insecure, with variation of FI prevalence between countries (18.9% in Germany, 14.9% in Cyprus, and 60.3% in Lebanon). Lifestyle behaviours also differed between participants from the three countries, with students in Germany exhibiting the highest physical activity level and the lowest adherence to the Mediterranean diet compared with Lebanon and Cyprus. On the other hand, participants from Lebanon and Cyprus had similar physical activity and diet behaviours. Concerning sleep, students in Cyprus showed the poorest quality. FI significantly correlated with reduced physical activity (beta − 0.171, 95% Confidence Interval (-0.313, -0.029)), but not with sleep or diet. The country of residence independently predicted lifestyle behaviours (p < 0.05). Conclusions This study suggests that FI impacts university students in countries of varying income levels, and the country of residence independently influences lifestyle behaviours. Larger-size studies are essential to confirm these findings and further explore FI’s impact on university students outside the context of the pandemic.

The impact of COVID-19 on campus-based support programs serving students with foster care experience: Focus groups with administrators and students (2022)

Highlights
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Series of focus groups were conducted with campus administrators and students with foster care histories to increase our understanding of the experiences they faced during the pandemic in college and university settings.
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Campus administrators quickly adapted service delivery to ensure students’ needs were met and found creative ways to stay connected with students.
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Students discussed their efforts to access resources, to stay connected with peers, and use of strategies to manage academic, financial, and mental health challenges.
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Findings highlighted participants’ resilience and ability to manage their own self-care and lean on others for support.