Recession, Retrenchment, and Recovery Project

The Recession, Retrenchment, and Recovery Project examined the effects of   recessions on students' financial access to college during the 25-year period 1979-2004, identified states that have been relatively successful in maintaining   financial access, and collected policy strategies used by these states. A particular concern was the impact of recessions on financial access-the balance   of state financial aid and tuition and fees-for students attending public institutions. This project had three phases:

•   Analysis of 25-year trends in state appropriations for higher education, allocations to student financial aid, and changes in tuition and fees at public institutions in the context of national recessions.
• Survey of state higher education organizations to ascertain how they dealt with the 2001 recession with a focus on priorities that guided state funding,   allocation decisions and strategies for maintaining financial access.
• Interviews with higher education, student financial aid, and governmental leaders in seven states that ranked well on one or more measures of financial access.

The Recession, Retrenchment, and Recovery project was funded by the   Lumina Foundation for Education. The Project was conducted by the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University (ISU) in collaboration with the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) and the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP).

Download project documents to learn more:

• Executive Summary of the report (pdf)
• Full Report, Volume I (pdf)
• State Profiles, Volume II (pdf)
• October 20 Symposium         
  • Symposium summary (pdf)
  • Powerpoint presentation (pdf)
  • Presentation by David Longenecker (pdf)
• June 2005 Literature Review (pdf)
• Project Data File (Excel) (contains information by state from 1979-2004 including: financial aid, FTE enrollment by sector, per capita income, gross state product, tuition (2 year and 4 year institutions), median family income by quintile, and access cost indicator information)