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Sandy Baum

Senior Fellow

I came to higher education finance from a broad interest in public policy, equity, and the distribution of income. College access is a critical part of this field, and both practitioners and policymakers are eager for analytical insights and evidence to strengthen their work. We have made a lot of progress in increasing access to postsecondary education, but we have a long way to go in diminishing how often family background influences where people end up in the educational and socioeconomic hierarchies. I look forward to continuing my work in this vital area of public policy at Urban.

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Brief

Postsecondary education can be a critical step on the path toward economic independence, but many low-income students who are independent for tax purposes face tremendous financial difficulties when trying to complete postsecondary school. Extending the Economic Security Project’s cost-of-living...

December 17, 2020
Elaine MaagNikhita AiriSandy BaumKim S. Rueben
Brief

Simplifying the student aid application process and making the system easier for students and families to understand and navigate has long been high on the agenda of policymakers and advocates for college access. Despite progress, the process for completing the Free Application for Federal...

October 19, 2020
Sandy BaumKim S. Rueben
Brief

This brief builds on work that examines replacing the current formula for calculating Pell grant eligibility with one that uses only a few family characteristics. Using data from the 2011–12 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, we compare our original two-factor model with Financial Aid...

April 7, 2016
Kim S. RuebenSarah GaultSandy Baum
Research report

There is widespread agreement that the college financial aid system is too complicated and acts as a barrier to higher education. This report focusses on how eight different simplification proposals for determining Pell grant eligibility and three alternatives for calculating Effective Family...

November 10, 2015
Kim S. RuebenSarah GaultSandy Baum
Brief

There is widespread agreement that the college financial aid system is too complicated and acts as a barrier to higher education. This brief focusses on how eight different simplification proposals for determining Pell grant eligibility and three alternatives for calculating Effective Family...

November 10, 2015
Kim S. RuebenSarah GaultSandy Baum

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