Austin Slaughter

@austinslaughter.bsky.social

1346 Followers 476 Following

Higher ed researcher at a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization focused on economic mobility. East Texan.

Community colleges get extra state money when students with greater needs earn a certificate. But in fiscal year 2027, that extra funding will shrink — from 25 cents to 20 cents on the dollar for low-income and academically underprepared students, and from 50 cents to 40 cents per dollar for adult learners 25 and older. TCC expects to lose $2 million in state funding because of this change, although Anglin said the college hopes to make up the difference by outperforming state projections and increasing enrollment. Every Texan supported the shift to outcomes-based funding for community colleges, Puente said. But the state should keep paying for the outcomes it promised to reward and treat community college funding as a workforce investment, he added. “Community colleges and Texans have taken that bet,” Puente said. “It’s costing the state more money than they expected.”
Graph showing total revenue and federal education assistance revenue over time for for-profit colleges. There are three panels based on how close colleges were to the 90% threshold before the change. Colleges close to the threshold show a sharp uptick in total revenue after the change.
Funnel infographic showing 14 million students completed the FAFSA, 9.9 million were eligible for a Pell Grant, and 7.9 million were eligible for the maximum award
man standing up in town hall meme
"Critics argue that the department’s definition violates congressional intent by taking a nonexhaustive list of example programs pulled from the Higher Education Act and making it exhaustive. The consequence, they say, is that students will no longer be able to finance key, high-cost, high-demand degrees—many of which involve health care. As a result, enrollment in those programs will decline and the nation could soon face a shortage of nurse practitioners, physical and occupational therapists, audiologists, and more. Other non–health care–related degrees affected include education and social work."
Bar graph showing the reenrollment rates for program and control group students--21% and 11%, respectively--a difference of almost 10 percentage points
"Your student loan servicer will contact you about your specific deadline to choose a different repayment plan. Once you hear from your loan servicer, you will have 90 days to choose another repayment plan. This gives you ample time to select the plan that works best for you. Our newest repayment plans—the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) and Tiered Standard Plan—will be available starting on July 1, 2026. For many borrowers, RAP may be the best option. All borrowers currently enrolled in the SAVE Plan will have the opportunity to enroll in RAP. Like other income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, RAP will offer an affordable monthly payment based on your income and number of dependents. Many borrowers will also qualify for monthly payment matching, which includes interest subsidies and principal reductions that could reduce your student loan balance. Most importantly, under RAP, and unlike some of the other IDR plans, your balance can never go up as long as you make your required monthly payments."
List from an ED press release including examples of colleges that have implemented new scholarships
AEFP flyer for student attendees. Highlighted section says you can filter for sessions with food.
Across all borrowers, our data show about 28 percent borrowed above the new federal limits in recent years and on average would need supplemental funds of about $21,700 to make up for the reduced federal loan limits. Of those borrowers, nearly four in 10 (38 percent) have either subprime Risk Scores (below 670) or have no Risk Score and thus may be unlikely to be able to secure private loans without a cosigner. At for-profit institutions, for most degree types there are fewer borrowers over the new federal limits, but the Risk Scores of those borrowers who will need new financing tend to be much worse: About 60 percent have either a subprime or no Risk Score. For doctoral and professional programs in not-for-profit institutions, borrowing beyond new limits is most prevalent, but the credit histories of high balance borrowers are significantly better than is true for students in master’s programs. In these programs, the share of high-balance borrowers with subprime or no Risk Scores ranges from 23 percent to 29 percent, whereas in master’s programs, the share is 42 percent for borrowers in public institutions and 38 percent at private nonprofit institutions.
Norman Rockwell's Freedom of Speech painting
Four graphs showing college enrollment for four groups of students: low-income URM, low-income non-URM, high-income URM, and high-income non-URM. Each graph has a line for different types of colleges based on selectivity. The URM graphs show their enrollment at Ivy Plus colleges decreased after SCOTUS struck down affirmative action. The low-income non-URM graph shows their enrollment increased at Ivy Plus colleges, particularly for students with SAT scores above 1400. There is little change in enrollment patterns for high-income non-URM students.
Table showing the number (370,000) and share (26%) of federal loan borrowers who would be above the new borrowing limits, the average amount of annual borrowing above the new limits among them ($22,000), and the total volume above the new limits ($8.1 billion)
bar graph showing the share of students in the twenty largest fields in programs that fail the standard. cosmetology dramatically stands out, at 64%, while all other programs are below 15%.
bar graph showing the share of institutions grouped by the percentage of their students in programs that fail the standard. schools in rural areas do a bit better than schools not in rural areas.
Bar graph showing the percentage of students in low-earning programs by credential type. Undergrad certificates: 24%; associate's: 3.9%; bachelor's: 0.6%; grad certificates: 3.1%; master's: 2.9%; doctoral: 0.3; professional: 4.7%; total (with undergrad certificates): 3.7%; total (without undergrad certificates): 1.8%.
Bar graph showing results from a poll asking "how much do you agree or disagree that state and federal governments should ensure that they are providing adequate funding to colleges and universities for student support services?" 79% of all adults say they strongly or somewhat agree, including 93% of Democrats and 67% of Republicans.
Paper abstract: "College loans serve as a double-edged sword for human capital investment: While they facilitate access to education, the burden of repayment may distort post-education investments in human capital. We examine the role of college loans and loan repayment policies through a structural model in which heterogeneous individuals, faced with borrowing limits, make dynamic decisions on consumption, borrowing/saving, labor supply, and costly human capital investment (via both college education and on-the-job learning a la Ben-Porath (1967)). We estimate two versions of the model using data from the NLSY79: one with natural borrowing limits and another with parameterized limits. Counterfactual simulations based on both models suggest that, relative to the standard fixed repayment plan, income-driven repayment (IDR) plans modestly increase educational attainment, lifetime earnings, and individual welfare. Although some generous IDR plans may result in losses for the loan program itself, overall government revenue is higher under IDRs than under the standard repayment plan when lifetime income taxes are accounted for, creating a win-win scenario for both individual welfare and government revenue."
Headline from the Hill: "RFK Jr. says agency will reveal causes of autism in September"
When considering OBF’s limited effects, it is important to note that a common alternative to OBF—enrollment-based funding—operates on a similar principle, in that both methods in effect concentrate efforts on keeping students enrolled and progressing toward a credential. It stands to reason that shifting from enrollment-based funding to OBF might not significantly change financial incentives for institutions.
JFK's nepo baby Harvard application essay
Screenshot of Connections category called "ending with homophones of parts of the leg." The words are "crypto, decaf, Disney, Prussian."
Screenshot of Google maps showing the drive from my home to UT Tyler was 17 miles
Nala laying on her back in the grass giving Simba a "come get it" look
Line graph showing annual earnings on the y-axis and years on the x-axis. The program group line diverges from the control group line at the five-year mark, and the gap grows in years six, seven, and eight.
Screenshot of email from IES director saying that ERIC, the largest library of education research in the world, will be continuing its work
The "call the ambulance... but not for me" meme
Poll results to the question "should the president withhold funding to universities they disagree with?" 57% no, 28% yes.
Guy in Times Square on New Year's Eve wearing glasses shaped like "2025"
A screenshot from the quoted article stating Notre Dame uses a list of children of large donors and there was a reduction of 30 top academic students around the same time this list was used in 2016
Line graph showing geographic inequality over time starting in 1969. The line mostly steadily increases from 0.2 in the mid-70s to 0.3 in 2023.
bar chart showing several programs with expired funding in 2024. the largest is veteran health care at $119 billion. Sixth on the list is the Department of Education at $29 billion, most of which is the pell grant program.
Meme with two guys looking out opposite sides of the bus. One has a nice view and is happy. The other does not and is not. Michigan at 7-5 is the happy one; Ohio State at 10-2 is the sad one.
Screenshot of Amazon website for bean bag filler. A 75 liter bag costs $25, two 75 liter bags cost $63, a 100 liter bag costs $24, and two 100 liter bags cost $41.
Screenshot of my tweet from November 13th 2023 that says "I've tried all the alternatives to this website, and I'm here to report back Bluesky is the best. Especially if you're in research/academia."