The Road Less Fragile: First Steps for Helping Financially Vulnerable Students Succeed

This issue brief explores student financial vulnerability, highlights the need for policymakers to both prioritize need-based grant aid and recognize a broader array of financial circumstances, and challenges impacting students in order to better address their financial needs and reduce barriers to success. TICAS encourages colleges to assess existing practices that may exacerbate their students’ financial insecurity and create barriers to completion, such as not participating in the federal loan program and retaining punitive policies governing institutional fines and fees.