How States Can Deliver a More Effective College Affordability Message

More must be done to lower the cost of college. But as the federal government and state governments pursue those efforts, this report explores how states could simultaneously do more to generate and send to families personalized estimates of college costs—after aid—for their students.1 First, it reviews the college costs and financial aid information gap that families encounter. Second, it reviews how states have leveraged existing data in other social policy areas to provide information and even make eligibility determinations. Third, it analyzes key considerations in designing an outreach initiative that leverages state tax information. Finally, it looks across three states—California, Michigan, and Texas—to determine how such an initiative would work in practice, basing assessments on research from existing state agency information data sharing practices and interviews with financial aid, higher education, and taxation state workers in each of the selected states.