By: Cherish Golden Over the last year, the SSTAR Lab has been taking an inventory of all financial aid opportunities available to Indigenous students at the state-, system-, and postsecondary institution-level. Why? Because there is currently …
SSTAR Lab Goes to Washington (for the SHEEO Conference)
By: Jared Colston At the beginning of August, two members of the SSTAR Lab (myself and Amberly Dziesinski) attended the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) Conference. Initially, I went into the SHEEO conference hoping …
Satisfactory Academic Progress: A Burden or an Opportunity?
By: Amberly Dziesinski If you listen in to a conversation between members of the SSTAR Lab discussing financial aid policies, chances are, you’ll hear the phrase “administrative burden.” Administrative burdens are the costs associated with …
Q&A with the SSTAR Lab’s Data Enterprise Manager
By: Bonniejean Zitske, Associate Director, SSTAR Lab Hello! Welcome to a new blog series featuring interviews with the talented people at SSTAR Lab. Each month, I’ll interview someone different, learning what drew them to the …
New SSTAR Lab Report and Dashboard Show Differences in State Community College Funding Models
By: Amberly Dziesinski Over the past 6 months, our team has been combing through state policy documents to better understand how community colleges are funded. We aimed to identify if, and how, states fund three …
Which 5 Midwest States have State-Level Financial Aid for Indigenous Students?
By: Gresham Collom, PhD, University of Minnesota Oneewe (thank you – Munsee) for reading our monthly Indigenous Student Financial Aid Opportunities blog series! This is a space for us to share updates on our project, …
What is a Research-Practice Partnership in Higher Education?
By: Nicholas Hillman When people ask me what the SSTAR Lab does, I often start by explaining we are a “research-practice partnership.” That phrase seems to click with folks, at least most of the time. …
Blog Introduction
Hello! Welcome to the SSTAR Lab Blog, we’re so glad you’re here. Whether you’re a researcher, practitioner, policymaker, or just someone interested in higher education research, we hope you find this site informative and useful. …
Financial Aid Terminology: A Guide for Researchers
By: Kathryn Boonstra Paying for college involves navigating a complex landscape of federal, state, institutional, and private financial aid (“aid”). These types of aid differ in their eligibility criteria, funding sources, awarding procedures, and benefit …
Looking for Financial Aid Opportunities for Indigenous Students? – Introducing SSTAR Lab’s Upcoming Tool
By: Gresham Collom & Misti Jeffers Did you know Indigenous college students accounted for only 0.7% of enrolled college students in 2020 (Keo et al., 2021)? Indigenous Peoples in the United States have long experienced …