Archibald argues that one of the problems with the current model - in which universities are responsible for the majority of grants, while the federal government provides student loans - is that a student cannot know the final price of attending a given institution until after he or she has applied, been accepted, and received a financial aid offer. As a result, students remain largely uninformed about the cost of their college educations until very late in the decision-making process, and thus have difficulty making a timely choice. In addition, financial aid information is kept private, creating confusion over the price of a college education and the role of financial aid.

Student aid in higher education has recently become a hot-button issue. Parents trying to pay for their children's education, college administrators competing for students, and even President Bill Clinton, whose recently proposed tax breaks for college would change sharply the federal government's financial commitment to higher education, have staked a claim in its resolution. In The Student Aid Game, Michael McPherson and Morton Owen Schapiro explain how both colleges and governments are struggling to cope with a rapidly changing marketplace, and show how sound policies can help preserve the strengths and remedy some emerging weaknesses of American higher education. McPherson and Schapiro offer a detailed look at how undergraduate education is financed in the United States, highlighting differences across sectors and for students of differing family backgrounds. They review the implications of recent financing trends for access to and choice of undergraduate college and gauge the implications of these national trends for the future of college opportunity. The authors examine how student aid fits into college budgets, how aid and pricing decisions are shaped by government higher education policies, and how competition has radically reshaped the way colleges think about the strategic role of student aid. Of particular interest is the issue of merit aid. McPherson and Schapiro consider the attractions and pitfalls of merit aid from the viewpoint of students, institutions, and society. The Student Aid Game concludes with an examination of policy options for both government and individual institutions. McPherson and Schapiro argue that the federal government needs to keep its attention focused on providing access to college for needy students, while colleges themselves need to constrain their search for strategic advantage by sticking to aid and admission policies they are willing to articulate and defend publicly.

Wilkinson traces the history of undergraduate financial aid at American colleges and universities; the origins, purposes, and impacts of merit- and need-based aid; the federal government's role; the evolution of elite private institutions; and the current climate and concerns. The concluding chapter lays out how these factors, combined with increasing costs of attending college, impact low-income minority students and how reforms on campuses and in Washington, DC, can better serve higher education and the more disadvantaged students.

"Student loan debt in the U.S. now exceeds $1 trillion, more than the nation's credit-card debt. This timely book explains how and why student loans evolved, the concerns they've raised along the way, and how each policy designed to fix student loans winds up making things worse. The authors, a father and son team, provide an intergenerational, interdisciplinary approach to understanding how, over the last 70 years, Americans incrementally, with the best intentions, created our current student loan disaster. They examine the competing interests and shifting societal expectations that contributed to the problem, and offer recommendations for confronting the larger problem of college costs and student borrowing in the future"--

Debunking the current model of international aid promoted by both Hollywood celebrities and policy makers, Moyo offers a bold new road map for financing development of the world's poorest countries.

In today's economy, a college degree is more important-- and more expensive-- than ever before. Here is the definitive, one-stop guide to the college selection and payment process, covering everything from basic timelines and tuition costs to predicting your scholarship award, and taking ownership of student debt after graduation.

Tells how to apply for state and federal grants, estimate a college budget, and determine eligibility, and provides information on specific grants and loan programs