June 29, 1998
Contacts: David Breneman
	    (804) 924-3332
	    Sarah Turner
	    (804) 924-7857
											

NEW RESEARCH GROUP WILL INVESTIGATE
ECONOMICS OF HIGHER EDUCATION

	How does availability of federal student aid affect college
enrollments?  In what ways are community colleges changing?  What impact
do loans and scholarships have on the costs of public higher education? 
	These are some of the questions researchers at the University of
Virginia will investigate through the newly funded Virginia Project on
the Economics of Higher Education.
	The Andrew Mellon Foundation has awarded U.Va.'s Curry School of
Education $200,000 for creating a project devoted to researching
economic questions related to higher education.  The project is one of
few research groups in the nation that analyses educational policy
issues from an economic perspective.
	"The project's goal is clear: to do high-quality research on a
topic that matters greatly -- access to higher education," said David W.
Breneman, Curry School dean and noted authority on higher education
financing, including trends in tuition, student aid and public and
private support.
	The project unites the expertise of faculty in U.Va.'s Curry
School and economics department in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Breneman, whose broad research background includes the academic labor
market, financing of community colleges and the changing role of liberal
arts colleges, will study community colleges.  He will examine numerous
issues related to two-year schools, including their changing roles,
extent and cost of remedial education, and how changes in federal and
state aid affect tuition costs and enrollment.
	"Regrettably, little is understood about the extent to which
current student aid policies facilitate access to higher education,"
Breneman noted.
	William R. Johnson, a U.Va. economics professor who has
published extensively on tax policy and income distribution, will study
the distribution of subsidies and costs in public higher education.  A
senior labor and public finance economist, Johnson will investigate
issues related to equity and efficiency in government support of higher
education.
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	Sarah Turner, an assistant professor in Curry's policy studies
program, will examine the role institutions play in changing the
availability of federal financial aid.  An economist who has written
about the behavior of colleges and universities as nonprofits, Turner
will research how such institutions respond to changes in student aid
funding.
	To bring awareness of such issues, Turner has begun organizing
and holding forums at U.Va.  The researchers hope the presentations by
top-tier economists and social scientists will encourage graduate
students to pursue questions related to educational policies.  
	"An impetus for creating the project is a lack of applied
research that connects economics to educational policy issues," Turner
said.  "We hope to generate interest and enthusiasm among social
scientists and educators for research in this area."

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