Title page
Contents
Data and study sample 4
Key findings 6
1. How do the demographic characteristics of very low- and low-income students differ from those of students with family incomes above the federal poverty level? 7
2. How do the enrollment characteristics of very low- and low-income students differ from those of students with family incomes above the federal poverty level? 9
3. How do the financial aid characteristics of very low- and low-income students differ from those of students with family incomes above the federal poverty level? 12
4. What is the price of attendance for very low- and low-income students, and how much do they actually pay to attend college, in comparison with students with family incomes... 17
Technical notes 22
References 27
Appendix A. Tables 29
Appendix B. Estimate and standard error tables 35
Table 1. Federal poverty guidelines for families in the 48 contiguous U.S. states and the District of Columbia, Alaska, and Hawaii, by family size: 2014 2
Table 2. Percentage distribution of undergraduates' family income and federal expected family contribution (EFC), by family income relative to federal poverty level: 2015-16 3
Table 3. Percentage distribution of dependent and independent undergraduates' selected demographic characteristics, by family income relative to federal poverty level: 2015-16 8
Table 4. Percentage distribution of dependent and independent undergraduates' selected enrollment characteristics, by family income relative to federal poverty level: 2015-16 10
Table 5. Average total amounts of selected types of financial aid received by full-time/full-year dependent undergraduates who received any aid, by family income relative to federal poverty... 14
Table 6. Average total amounts of selected types of financial aid received by full-time/full-year independent undergraduates who received any aid, by family income relative to federal poverty... 16
Table 7. Average total price, net price, and out-of-pocket net price of attendance for full-time/full-year dependent undergraduates, by family income relative to federal poverty level and control... 18
Table 8. Average total price, net price, and out-of-pocket net price of attendance for full-time/full-year independent undergraduates, by family income relative to federal poverty level and... 19
Figure 1. Percentage distribution of undergraduates' family income relative to federal poverty level, by dependency status: 1999-2000, 2007-08, and 2015-16 4
Figure 2. Percentage of dependent undergraduates who applied for and received selected types of financial aid, by family income relative to federal poverty level: 2015-16 12
Figure 3. Percentage of independent undergraduates who applied for and received selected types of financial aid, by family income relative to federal poverty level: 2015-16 13
Exhibits
Exhibit 1. Bias analysis results 24
Table A-1. Percentage distribution of undergraduates by whether they were included in the analysis, and among those included, percentage distribution by dependency status: 2015-16 29
Table A-2. Average total amounts of selected types of financial aid received by full-time/part-year and part-time/full-year dependent and independent undergraduates who received any aid,... 30
Table A-3. Average total amounts of selected types of financial aid received by part-time/part-year dependent and independent undergraduates who received any aid, by family income relative... 31
Table A-4. Average total price, net price, and out-of-pocket net price of attendance for full-time/part-year and part-time/full-year dependent and independent undergraduates, by family income... 32
Table A-5. Average total price, net price, and out-of-pocket net price of attendance for part-time/part-year dependent and independent undergraduates, by family income relative to federal... 33
Table A-6. Federal poverty guidelines for families in the 48 contiguous U.S. states and the District of Columbia, Alaska, and Hawaii, by family size: 2015 34
Table B-1. Estimates and standard errors for figure 1. Percentage distribution of undergraduates' family income relative to federal poverty level, by dependency status: 1999-2000, 2007-08,... 35
Table B-2. Estimates and standard errors for figure 2. Percentage of dependent undergraduates who applied for and received selected types of financial aid, by family income relative to federal... 36
Table B-3. Estimates and standard errors for figure 3. Percentage of independent undergraduates who applied for and received selected types of financial aid, by family income relative to federal... 37
Table B-4. Standard errors for table 2. Percentage distribution of undergraduates' family income and federal expected family contribution (EFC), by family income relative to federal poverty level:... 38
Table B-5. Standard errors for table 3. Percentage distribution of dependent and independent undergraduates' selected demographic characteristics, by family income relative to federal poverty... 39
Table B-6. Standard errors for table 4. Percentage distribution of dependent and independent undergraduates' selected enrollment characteristics, by family income relative to federal poverty... 40
Table B-7. Standard errors for table 5. Average total amounts of selected types of financial aid received by full-time/full-year dependent undergraduates who received any aid, by family income... 41
Table B-8. Standard errors for table 6. Average total amounts of selected types of financial aid received by full-time/full-year independent undergraduates who received any aid, by family income... 42
Table B-9. Standard errors for table 7. Average total price, net price, and out-of-pocket net price of attendance for full-time/full-year dependent undergraduates, by family income relative... 43
Table B-10. Standard errors for table 8. Average total price, net price, and out-of-pocket net price of attendance for full-time/full-year independent undergraduates, by family income relative... 44
Table B-11. Standard errors for table A-1. Percentage distribution of undergraduates by whether they were included in the analysis, and among those included, percentage distribution... 45
Table B-12. Standard errors for table A-2. Average total amounts of selected types of financial aid received by full-time/part-year and part-time/full-year dependent and independent... 45
Table B-13. Standard errors for table A-3. Average total amounts of selected types of financial aid received by part-time/part-year dependent and independent undergraduates who received... 46
Table B-14. Standard errors for table A-4. Average total price, net price, and out-of-pocket net price of attendance for full-time/part-year and part-time/full-year dependent and independent... 47
Table B-15. Standard errors for table A-5. Average total price, net price, and out-of-pocket net price of attendance for part-time/part-year dependent and independent undergraduates,... 48