Year: 2025

What we know about the government funding freeze and its effects in Wisconsin

This story originally aired on Wisconsin Public Radio. The federal funding freeze announced last week continues to be a source of confusion and anxiety for some organizations in Wisconsin. We talk to the leader of a trade group suing the Trump administration over the freeze, then hear updates on how Head Start programs in the …

Indigenous Financial Aid Opportunities in the South

By Jessica K. Trad, University of Minnesota This month’s post continues our blog series sharing information about financial aid opportunities for Indigenous students across the United States. We discuss the 13 total funding opportunities available in three Southern states: Arkansas, Louisiana, and North Carolina.  Soon, Indigenous students will have access to our publicly available interactive …

Test-Optional College Admissions

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents temporarily suspended its policy of requiring applicants to submit ACT or SAT scores as part of their application. The SSTAR Lab is partnering with the Universities of Wisconsin to evaluate the role test scores play in college access and student success across …

Measuring College Funding Inequality

In partnership with the Foundation for California Community Colleges and the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, we analyzed funding trends among California community colleges. We tested the extent to which financial resources (expenditures and revenues) are equally distributed across colleges. We also examined enrollment trends disaggregated by race/ethnicity and Pell eligibility to determine whether traditionally …

Student Loan Repayment

The SSTAR Lab partnered with Arnold Ventures and six research universities to share data on student loan repayment to support ongoing efforts to monitor, assess, and improve loan outcomes of former students. The resulting report, “Evaluating Federal Student Loan Repayment Outcomes at Six Research Universities,” (PDF) highlights key repayment statistics at these universities, including undergraduate …

Teacher Pledge Program

In fall 2020, the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education launched the Teacher Pledge program. This program is designed to strengthen and diversify Wisconsin’s teacher workforce by providing forgivable loans and covering testing/licensing fees to students enrolled in UW–Madison teacher education programs. The program is administered by the School of Education’s Teacher Education Center, and …

FAFSA Filing in Wisconsin

2023 Data Brief: FAFSA Completion Rates Among 12th Graders in Wisconsin Public High Schools This data brief examines FAFSA completion rates for 12th graders in Wisconsin’s public high schools. Its purpose is to establish baseline trends and summarize recent academic research to help inform policies and practices addressing FAFSA filing among high school students. It …

Wisconsin College-Going Rates

2022 Data Brief: College-Going Rates Among Graduates of Wisconsin Public High Schools Posted: November, 2022 This data brief documents college-going rates among Wisconsin’s public high school graduates. It focuses on overall college-going rates and disaggregates rates by students’ race/ethnicity and economic disadvantage status. College-Going Students in Wisconsin 2010-2019 Posted: June 25, 2021 In this project, …

Mapping Rural Colleges

In June, 2020, the SSTAR Lab partnered with Ascendium to undertake a year-long study on rural higher education. This project culminated in an interactive mapping tool and report based on new data from various sources, including the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs. This project …

Exploring Indigenous Financial Aid Opportunities in the Mountain West

By Gresham Collom, Cherish Golden, and Misti Jeffers This month’s post continues our blog series on financial aid opportunities for Indigenous students across the United States. We highlight a few of the 41 opportunities found in five Mountain West states.  In early 2025, students will have access to our publicly available interactive website tool to …