Breadcrumb
- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
USDA 1890 National Scholars Program
The USDA 1890 National Scholars Program is aimed at bolstering educational and career opportunities for students from rural or underserved communities around the country. The scholarship provides recipients with full tuition, fees, books, and room and board to attend one of the 1890 land-grant universities and pursue degrees in agriculture, food, natural resource sciences, or related academic disciplines. The scholarship may also include work experience at USDA.
American FactFinder
This U.S. Census website is a source for population, housing, economic, and geographic data.
Census Bureau
The Census Bureau site serves as the leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy. It contains thePopulation & Housing Census collected every 10 years, the Economic Census collected every 5 years, the Census of Governments collected every 5 years, the American Community Survey collected annually, a number of Demographic and Econmic surveys, and Economic Indicators that are released on a specific schedule.
Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance in the United States in 2013
Released by the Census Bureau, this report illustrates key indicators of poverty and family income. The report shows that the overall poverty rate fell 14.5% in 2013, and the poverty rate for people under age 18 fell 1.9% from 2012 to 2013, which is equivalent to 1.4 million young people lifted out of poverty.
School Enrollment: 2012
This newly released set of tables from the Census Bureau describes the characteristics of children and adults enrolled in school at all levels, by age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, nativity, and foreign-born parentage. A notable trend seen in the data is a drop in college enrollment (both undergraduate and graduate) by 467,000 students in fall 2012 from one year earlier.
Resource: Statistics in Schools
This website uses Census data to educate K-12 students about statistical concepts and data analysis. Developed by educators to correspond with relevant education standards, teachers can incorporate these free resources into geography, history, math, and sociology activities.
Share with Youth: Youth Speak Out: Shared Experiences Help Rural Youth Leaders Connect
This podcast, developed by the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth, features rural youth leaders who were once homeless or in foster care offering advice on how to engage vulnerable rural youth.
College Preparation Checklist
This resource can help students of all ages to prepare academically and financially for education beyond high school (PDF, 28 pages). It provides an overview of options for financial aid for college, and checklists for students and parents to reference at each stage of a student’s education.
Share With Youth: Budgeting for College
ED’s Office of Federal Student Aid reminds students about the importance of budgeting to achieve future financial goals and prepare for unexpected bumps in the road.
Share with Youth: FAFSA Overview
The Office of Federal Student Aid at the Department of Education provides an overview of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA takes about 30 minutes to complete, is free, and provides students access to grants, loans, and work-study funds from the federal government.
Share with Youth: Types of Federal Student Aid
The Office of Federal Student Aid offers more than $150 billion to students each year in the form of grants, loans, and work-study funds. While some colleges can also offer private student loans, federal loans often have lower fixed interest rates and other benefits.
Share with Youth: After the FAFSA — What Happens Next
This Office of Federal Student Aid video explains what happens after students complete and submit their FAFSA. The U.S. Department of Education will process the application and indicated colleges will be notified. Students will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) and can check their student aid status online.
Resource: Program-Level Gainful Employment Earnings Data
This data set provides information on program-level outcomes of college students preparing for gainful employment that can be used by prospective students and their families to weigh their options. Overall, the data show graduates of career training programs at public institutions generally fare better than those of comparable programs at for-profit colleges, earning higher salaries and being more prepared to enter higher earning fields.
Report: National Student Loan FY 2014 Cohort Default Rate
These data describe the FY 2014 cohort student loan default rate, which increased slightly from 11.3% to 11.5% for students who entered repayment between fiscal years 2013 and 2014. During the tracking period, more than five million borrowers entered repayment and 580,671 of them defaulted on their loans.
Resource: Digital and Social Media Financial Aid Collateral
This website provides digital and social media resources to help teachers and counselors share important federal student aid information with students and parents. It features sample social media posts, messaging guidelines, blog posts, infographics, presentations, videos, and fact sheets on a variety of financial aid topics.
Education Resources Information Center
ERIC provides ready access to education literature to support the use of educational research and information to improve practice in learning, teaching, educational decision-making, and research.
Using MTSS to Support Student Well-being: Fact Sheets for Schools
Many schools and districts are turning to multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS)—a framework for implementing a cohesive set of evidence-based programs and practices—to promote students’ social, emotional, and mental health. This REL Northeast & Islands blog post highlights five fact sheet designed to support educators' use of MTSS. Topics cover:
- What are Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports?
- Meeting Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Needs with MTSS
- Data is Key to Taking an MTSS Approach
- Don't Forget about Educator Well-being
- MTSS Efforts Thrive When Equity is at the Core
IES Releases Two New Resources
Two new resources from IES can help to improve support to students who are struggling in school:
- ”Practitioner Data Use in Schools: Workshop Toolkit” (PDF, 53 pages) is designed to help teachers and administrators use education data more systematically and accurately.
- ”A Practitioner’s Guide to Implementing Early Warning Systems” (PDF, 26 pages) describes and provides examples of early warning system implementation strategies in use across the country.
Indicators of School Crime and Safety, 2011
The Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics and the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics' report, “Indicators of School Crime and Safety, 2011,” examines crimes occurring in school and presents data on school safety.
Practical Tips for Enrolling and Staying in College
This webpage from the What Works Clearinghouse contains information that can help youth-serving and school professionals prepare students to enroll in, and complete, their college education. Resources include tips for educating students and families about college affordability and financial aid, a checklist for helping students complete the steps in the college application process, research on the impact of secondary education interventions, and information that can help schools support students effectively and reduce dropout.
The Condition of Education 2014
The Condition of Education 2014 presents an overview of the current state of education in the United States. The report includes 42 indicators, grouped under four areas: population characteristics, participation in education, elementary and secondary education, and postsecondary education. The report includes four Spotlights that look in-depth at issues of current policy interest. Spotlight topics include trends in employment rates by educational attainment, kindergarten entry status, the status of rural education, and financing of postsecondary education.
The Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in School Accountability Systems
A new report from the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, “The Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in School Accountability Systems,” provides information on school-level accountability for those schools accountable for the performance of the students with disabilities subgroup under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
What Works Clearinghouse
This resource collects, screens, and identifies studies on the effectiveness of educational programs, products, practices, and policies for educators, policymakers, researchers, and the public. This resource is designed to help schools, school districts, and educational program developers identify potential researchers (individuals and organizations) to conduct studies of effectiveness of educational interventions.
Resource: What Works Clearinghouse Widget
WWC released a widget that allows website visitors to easily connect with the free products and resources available from the WWC. Once the widget is on a website, it will automatically update as new products and features are released.
Resource: Compendium of Social-Behavioral Research Funded by NCER and NCSER: 2002–2013
This compendium provides brief descriptions of the more than 245 projects focused on social-behavioral competencies or outcomes developed or tested by researchers funded by NCER and NCSER between 2002 and 2013.