Bridget Terry Long Harvard Graduate School of Education and NBER Legacy of the War on Poverty: A 50 year Retrospective Pre-Conference ~ November 17, 2011 Supporting Access to Higher Education The Preparation and Financial Assistance Programs of the War on Poverty

2 Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 Bill introduces Federal Work Study Provides broadly for General Community Action Programs of which Upward Bound is an example Higher Education Act of 1965 Introduces the Educational Opportunity Grant, which precedes the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant (later renamed the Pell Grant) Also introduces Guaranteed Student Loans The Federal Work Study program is amended Major Legislation

3 Grants  Educational Opportunity Grant  Supplemental EOG  Basic Educational Opportunity Grant  Pell Grant Guaranteed Student Loans  Currently Stafford Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans Work Study  Subsidized wages for student jobs (campus-based) Upward Bound  Grants to mostly postsecondary institutions to help support students to access and success in college  Part of TRIO (8 programs targeting low-income and 1 st - generation students from middle to postbacc) The Programs

4 Underscored the Needs of Students as access to higher education was increasing  Low-income students  Liquidity Constraints  Need for government-backed loans Foundation of Substantial and Far-reaching support  Needs Analysis system  Pell becomes the first award  Increasing role of states, institutions, private groups, and companies The Significance and Evolution of Federal Student Aid

Ten-Year Trend in Student Aid and Nonfederal Loans per Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) in Constant 2010 Dollars, to SOURCE: The College Board, Trends in Student Aid 2011, Figure 1.

Total Pell Expenditures, Maximum and Average Pell Grant in Constant 2010 Dollars and Number of Recipients Relative to Level SOURCE: The College Board, Trends in Student Aid 2011, Figure 13A.

Maximum and Average Pell Grant in Constant 2010 Dollars, to SOURCE: The College Board, Trends in Student Aid 2011, Figure 13B.

8 Grants  Research on Pell– little effect but it is difficult to evaluate a federal program  Others grants that might help us reflect on the Pell  Underlying issue: awareness and aid application Loans  Little research on effects due to selection issues  Huge focus on the effects of debt: How much is too much? Does it affect important decisions? Work Study  Role of work  Evolution of campus-based programs Upward Bound – Mathematica reviews What effects have these programs had on college access, choice, and persistence?

9 Summary – Where are we now? Comparing the current slate of policies to the original policies created during the 1960s and 1970s Have the policies worked? Conclusions from the evidence Implications for current policy debates Conclusions and Implications

10 Upward Bound? How much should I focus on this? The balance between the history and present day Time/space spent on the history? (what changed when and why) Evaluating the original programs versus today’s programs All the way to the grandchildren and great- grandchildren policies? Current policy debates – How much to include? Revised papers due Sept 2012 (pre election) Final paper due Jan 2013 (post election) Questions