Laura W. Perna

Last year’s rollout of the redesigned FAFSA form was disastrous. Laura Perna offers advice to help you get through it this year.

Laura Perna highlights that recent FAFSA application delays have caused “confusion and real challenges” for students and colleges but believes the planned modifications will ultimately make the process simpler and more beneficial for students.

Federal student loan debt now totals $1.645 trillion across 43.6 million borrowers, according to the Education Data Initiative.

Laura Perna links declining college enrollment at Triangle Tech to students entering the workforce straight out of high school.

Vice Provost for Faculty Laura Perna says it is extremely important for students, especially low-income students and first-generation students, to complete the FAFSA as they try to identify ways to pay for college.

Laura Perna suggests that while community college is often promoted as an affordable educational route, it's not a universal solution due to limitations like accessibility and credit transfer issues, and emphasizes the need for a reevaluation of who bears the costs of higher education, advocating for a role for state and federal governments in making it more accessible and affordable.

A new year means a new version of the RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, with the 2024 edition announced yesterday by Education Week. Nine researchers from the University of Pennsylvania made the annual 200-member list, which was created by Rick Hess of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) to gauge the public impact of ed scholars’ contributions.

Laura Perna criticizes the inaccuracy and lack of availability of college net price calculators, advocating for clearer, more up-to-date tools to help students understand the true costs of higher education.

Dr. Laura Perna acknowledged GradRight's initiative as a significant solution to the challenges of access, affordability, and inclusivity faced by Indian students seeking higher education abroad.

According to Laura Perna, Black and Hispanic faculty are underrepresented at Maryland's largest public universities, reflecting a widespread issue in academia, with barriers to diversification including unrecognized "invisible labor," narrow definitions of merit, and bias in promotion and tenure processes, impacting faculty diversity and student-faculty ratios.

Laura Perna says, “If we care about diversity in the student body, if we care about access to higher education for students from low-income families, then we have to be paying attention.”

Laura Perna calls an education model where a student wouldn’t be penalized by having out-of-pocket costs and a loan "very attractive."

Laura Perna says a key difference between community colleges and four-year institutions is the type of degrees and credentials offered, and credit transfer is crucial for students.

Laura Perna explained that net price calculators can help Pell-eligible families determine financial aid eligibility, but not all universities have compliant calculators with updated cost information.

Institutions need better data on faculty backgrounds, their experiences and working conditions, and (in)equities in measures of success, Laura W. Perna writes.

Eight University of Pennsylvania-affiliated researchers are ranked in the top 200 nationwide – and all eight are associated with Penn GSE.

Laura Perna, expert in college access, affordability, and success, takes a look at the budgetary costs and distributional impact of the U.S. President’s initiative.

Sydney Freeman Jr., a visiting scholar, and Laura W. Perna write that faculty of color and women faculty are known to shoulder more of the invisible labor associated with the college teaching profession.

What can institutions do to help students make informed choices about higher education? How can we make sense of skepticism surrounding cost, value, and return on investment? Four members of the Penn GSE community at the forefront of these changes spoke at a recent Penn Alumni panel event.

Laura Perna speaks about net price calculators and their implications in college admissions. The three buckets that matter for college opportunity are financial aid, academic readiness, and information, she says. Net price calculators are an “important mechanism to help people understand really early on in the process ideally, how much it will actually cost.”

Laura Perna said that applying for financial aid can be complicated for students. However, the Alamo Promise program, which provides students in Texas with free tuition and additional services, sends “a clear message with no fine print,” she said.

Laura Perna spoke about how so-called College Promise Programs that reduce the costs of attending college may encourage more students to enroll — but cautioned a number may still be deterred by fears of hidden costs.

Laura Perna discussed how the challenges of constructing debt-free degree programs may be daunting for colleges, but the ends justify the means: The programs create a more socioeconomically diverse student body, to the benefit of everyone.

Laura Perna spoke about efforts to make community college tuition-free. "There's power in the message that tuition is free. Figuring out how much college costs is complicated," she said.

Laura Perna spoke about accommodating the needs of adult students. “There is a complexity to adult learners,” she said. “It is really recognizing, ‘What are the circumstances of individual people’s lives?’ If someone is to enroll in college, how do you make it possible for them to attend?”

Laura Perna argues that making community college tuition-free should be a national priority.

College costs are complicated, but that's not an excuse to hide important information, Laura Perna says.

Laura Perna pointed to equity gaps in labor market returns for people who hold the same type of college credential, noting that the risk of taking out a loan to attend college isn’t distributed equally in society.

In the Conversation, Laura Perna, Jeremy Wright-Kim, and Elaine Leigh examine the design of free college programs and how the design influences their effectiveness.

In University World News, Laura Perna and William Tierney write “Academic life, as we have lived it, and as we envision it for you, is about challenging norms and creating a society that foments democracy.”

Laura Perna talks about her research, issues of college access, affordability and success for first-generation, under-resourced students and why she has dedicated her life to this specific research.

Laura Perna said of colleges’ approaches to the fall 2020 semester, “I think we are going to see a lot of variation.”

Laura Perna and Jeremy Wright-Kim write that while Pell Grants reduce financial pressures, this does not translate into higher graduation rates.

The city needs more college graduates. Laura Perna argues a Kenney Administration proposal that includes scholarships and supports would put Philadelphia on track.

Laura Perna and Jeremy Wright-Kim write that more needs to be done to improve graduation rates at the colleges where many Pell recipients enroll.

Laura Perna joins CPRE Executive Director Jonathan Supovitz to discuss her team’s study on Net Price Calculators and some important implications for higher education policymakers and college officials.

Laura Perna writes that more must be done to recognize the extent to which college students are working and take actions that minimize the harm, and maximize the benefits, of student employment.

Laura Perna says "exams increase inequality when you look at who is getting access to aid."

Laura Perna pointed out that for low-income students, the barriers to attending and completing community college go beyond tuition and fees. Those auxiliary costs include housing, food, transportation and childcare, among other things.

Perna’s recommendations included improving community college access, clearer pricing, and more support for minority students and non-traditional learners.

Six researchers from Penn GSE have made Education Week’s 2020 Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings list.