For example, in my own work with several colleagues, which was partially funded by IES, we demonstrated that providing low - and moderate - income families with streamlined personal assistance to complete the federal
college financial
aid application had large effects
on college attendance and persistence.
The real culprit is not a lack of academic preparation, but instead the actions of state legislatures,
colleges, and universities that hike up the costs of
attendance, underinvest in need - based financial grant
aid, and spend the least
on support services at the schools where students possess the greatest economic and academic needs.