Profile of Very Low And Low-Income Undergraduates in 2015–16

The primary objectives behind postsecondary financial aid programs are to increase access, improve affordability, and promote equal opportunity and college success for postsecondary students (Gillen 2010). Low-income students are frequently a topic of higher education research precisely because they have the greatest need with respect to all three of these objectives (Bellin 2015; Tilak 2010). This report presents a profile of low-income undergraduates in 2015–16, and examines policies and programs designed to assist these students.