Peter Granville

Education policy analyst

In the Press

For inquiries related to my work at The Century Foundation, please email press@tcf.org.

Authored and co-authored op-eds, in order of release:

  • Peter Granville, “Louisiana’s FAFSA policy stunned the nation. Its repeal is even more shocking,” Times-Picayune, March 28, 2024.
  • Peter Granville, “No more kicking the can down the road on free community college,” The Hill, November 3, 2021.
  • Peter Granville, “Why the FAFSA is essential for prospective college students,” Education and Career News, June 25, 2021. This op-ed is part of a series, The Future of Higher Education Technology, which was published as an insert in the centerfold of USA Today.
  • Tyler Wu, Peter Granville, and Denise Castro, “California must go all in for financial aid,” EdSource, February 25, 2021.
  • Peter Granville, “Louisiana’s FAFSA requirement for HS students offers lessons in college access and equity for other states,” The 74 Million, September 7, 2020.
  • Peter Granville and Jen Mishory, “Michigan’s higher education policies fail families and economy,” Crain’s Detroit, September 22, 2019.
  • Peter Granville and Alex Edwards, “Opinion: State policy drives college affordability crisis,” The Detroit News, September 14, 2019.

Research citations, quotes, and interviews in order of release:

2025:

  • “Billions of State and Institutional Aid Dollars Go to High-Income Students,” Inside Higher Ed, November 7, 2025.
  • “Here’s who is getting grant money from colleges,” Axios, November 7, 2025.
  • “These Billionaires Are Stepping Up As HBCUs Are Squeezed By Student Loan Cuts,” Forbes, October 16, 2025.
  • “As Tuition Rises, Free-College Programs Are as Relevant as Ever,” EdSurge, Oct 7, 2025.
  • “Applying for college financial aid? Here’s what’s different about this year’s FAFSA,” PBS Newshour, Oct 2, 2025.
  • “Trump’s changes to Parent Plus student loans may limit college options,” The Washington Post, September 23, 2025.
  • “Federal loan limits could deter students from social work careers, those in the field say,” WBEZ, Aug 26, 2025.
  • “ABOR partners with U.S. Department of Education to lead national FAFSA beta testing initiative,” Arizona Board of Regents, August 15, 2025.
  • “Analysis: Many Will Be Shut Out of Graduate Education Due to ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act,’” NASFAA, August 13, 2025.
  • “Will Trump’s Bill Reverse Health Improvements for College Students?,” Inside Higher Ed, July 30, 2025.
  • “Supreme Court Conservatives Tell Trump He Can Destroy the Education Department, as a Treat,” Vanity Fair, July 15, 2025.
  • “Understanding Trump’s Dismantling of the Education Department—and What’s At Stake,” Time, July 15, 2025.
  • “Congress considering borrowing limits on federal student loans,” The Hill, June 27, 2025.
  • “Congress considers federal student loan borrowing limits for GOP budget reconciliation bill,” Just The News, June 27, 2025.
  • “Republicans want to curb federal student loans — and private lenders are ready to step in,” MarketWatch, June 7, 2025.
  • “Alerta por fuga de cerebros en EE.UU. tras presión de Trump contra las universidades,” El Mercurio, April 8, 2025.
  • In-studio appearance on Yahoo Finance, April 3, 2025.
  • “Despidos, renuncias y recortes presupuestarios: las universidades se ajustan a la era Trump,” El Mercurio, March 31, 2025.
  • “Fewer Louisiana students seek college aid after state ends FAFSA requirement,” Times-Picayune, March 26, 2025.
  • “President Trump allocates student loan management to the SBA amidst layoffs,” KCBS Radio, March 22, 2025.
  • “The Trump Team Turns to Education,” The Dispatch, March 14, 2025.
  • “Education Department launches probes into over 50 colleges after anti-DEI guidance,” Higher Ed Dive, March 14, 2025.
  • “DOE Set to Die,” Reason, March 12, 2025.
  • “Student Loans: How Donald Trump’s Plans Overlap With Project 2025,” Newsweek, March 8, 2025.
  • “Trump wants to dismantle the Department of Education. Here’s what the agency does,” CBS News, March 7, 2025.
  • “How Student Loans Will Be Impacted if Department of Education Closes Down,” Newsweek, February 4, 2025.
  • “What do FAFSA completion rates look like post-pandemic?,” Higher Ed Dive, January 8, 2025.

2024:

  • “Latina-led nonprofit helps NC students decipher the FAFSA,” WUNC, December 18, 2024.
  • “Forget FAFSA, says one state. We got you,” Hechinger Report, December 9, 2024.
  • “Fewer 18-Year-Olds Enrolled in College This Fall,” Inside Higher Ed, December 3, 2024.
  • “Affluent White Students Are Skipping College, and No One Is Sure Why,” Chronicle of Higher Education, December 3, 2024.
  • “Botched college financial aid form snarls students’ enrollment plans,” AP News, August 29, 2024. This article also appeared in Fortune.
  • “Opinion | The federal government’s financial aid failure is a disgrace,” Washington Post, August 28, 2024.
  • “How Biden Raised the Profile of the Free College Movement,” Inside Higher Ed, August 19, 2024.
  • “Opinion | The new FAFSA was supposed to help students. It’s still a problem,” Washington Post, August 18, 2024.
  • “POLITICO Pro’s Morning Education: Seeking FAFSA support,” Politico, August 14, 2024.
  • “1 million people now owe more than $200,000 in federal student loans,” MSN, July 29, 2024.
  • “Colorado students and colleges are rebounding from FAFSA fiasco, but financial aid applications are still down”, The Denver Post, July 9, 2024.
  • “Flawed FAFSA rollout leads to 11.6% drop in students filling out the college financial aid form,” Chalkbeat Colorado, July 8, 2024.
  • “FAFSA Chaos Had Bigger Impact on Minority Students,” Inside Higher Ed, June 28, 2024.
  • “The Dark Art of Enrollment Management,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 23, 2024.
  • “Louisiana Will No Longer Require Students to Fill Out FAFSA to Graduate,” The New York Times, April 26, 2024.
  • “Louisiana Stops Requiring FAFSA Completion in High School,” Inside Higher Ed, March 11, 2024.
  • “Louisiana students will no longer be required to complete the FAFSA, despite policy’s success,” WWNO, March 7, 2024.
  • “Louisiana might no longer require high schoolers to apply for college financial aid,” NOLA.com, March 6, 2024.
  • “Federal funds for short career programs is bad and getting worse,” Forbes, February 28, 2024.
  • “FAFSA form completion could become a Michigan high school graduation requirement,” Chalkbeat Detroit, January 23, 2024.
  • “NJ bill requires high schoolers to apply for college aid to reduce unclaimed grant money,” My Central Jersey, January 18, 2024.
  • “Financial Aid Changes Are Creating ‘New Levels Of Frustration’ For Hawaii Students,” Civil Beat, January 7, 2024.

2023:

  • “Some who took out parent PLUS loans to send their kids to college expect to die with debt,” USA Today, December 5, 2023.
  • “Parents who took on debt for their children’s college education restart payments this month,” WBEZ, October 19, 2023.
  • “What to Know Now About Student Loan Debt and Repayments,” KQED, October 9, 2023. This article also appeared in EdSource.
  • “Despite low public tuition, California ranks in top third among states for average student debt,” EdSource, September 28, 2023.
  • “Ineffective Career Programs Might Be in Trouble. What Does That Mean for Colleges?”, Chronicle of Higher Education, September 27, 2023.
  • “Education Department issues ‘landmark’ final rule to protect students in career education programs,” Higher Ed Dive, September 27, 2023.
  • “White House issues much-anticipated rule to weed out high-debt, predatory colleges,” USA Today, September 27, 2023.
  • “Public Offers Suggestions for a New Student Loan Forgiveness Plan,” Best Colleges, July 19, 2023.
  • “Biden’s new student loan forgiveness plan is underway. 5 key takeaways from the first day,” USA Today, July 18, 2023.
  • “New Research Shows Harm Parent PLUS Student Loans Cause Black Families,” Forbes, July 16, 2023.
  • “Biden Hasn’t Given Up on Loan Forgiveness. What Comes Next.”, Barron’s, July 12, 2023.
  • “Parent PLUS Loans a ‘Double-Edged Sword’ for Black Families,” Inside Higher Ed, June 14, 2023.
  • “Should states require high school students to complete the FAFSA?”, Higher Ed Dive, June 7, 2023.
  • “Parent PLUS Loans Can Debilitate Black Families. Here’s What to Know.”, Capital B News, April 27, 2023.
  • “Looming Deadline for Food Stamps,” Inside Higher Ed, March 30, 2023.

2022:

  • “How Parents Get Student Loan Debt Relief Under Biden’s New Plan,” CNET, October 22, 2022.
  • “Biden’s student loan debt relief plan, explained,” Marketplace, October 13, 2022.
  • “Race on Campus: How Parent PLUS Loans Drive Racial Inequity,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 27, 2022.
  • “Why many in the HBCU community celebrated Biden’s student loan forgiveness,” ABC News, September 26, 2022.
  • “Texas HBCU graduates may hurt the most from Supreme Court ruling on student debt, data shows,” Houston Chronicle, September 19, 2022.
  • “The Subprime Loans for College Hiding in Plain Sight,” The New York Times, September 17, 2022.
  • “Senators Ask Biden to Expand Forgiveness for Parents Who Took Out Student Loans,” Time, September 17, 2022.
  • “Dems urge Biden to expand student debt relief for parent borrowers,” Politico, September 12, 2022.
  • “Parents who took on student debt for their kids should receive more benefits from Biden’s debt cancellation plans, 8 Democratic senators say,” Business Insider, September 12, 2022.
  • “Parents and graduate students officially qualify for Biden’s student-loan forgiveness,” Business Insider, September 1, 2022.
  • “Parents who took out student loans to help their kids are also eligible for relief, with some families getting up to $30,000,” Fortune, August 26, 2022.
  • “Student Loan Forgiveness Applies to Parents, Too. How Older Americans Will Benefit.”, Marketwatch, August 25, 2022.
  • “Parents and graduate students could reportedly be eligible for student-loan forgiveness after all,” Business Insider, July 30, 2022.
  • “Student debt: Can Parent PLUS Loans be forgiven?”, The Hill, July 23, 2022. This article also appeared in NewsNation.
  • Politico Pro Morning Education (newsletter), Politico, July 15, 2022.
  • “Study: Cosmetology Schools Yield Poor Student Outcomes,” Inside Higher Ed, July 15, 2022.
  • “Should Parents Cosign Student Loans?”, Forbes, June 21, 2022.
  • “A single mom who took on $187,000 in student debt for her kids wishes Biden would consider parents in his loan-forgiveness plans,” Business Insider, June 18, 2022.
  • “Parent loans, another piece in the wealth gap puzzle,” The Intersection (newsletter), June 8, 2022.
  • “A top student-loan official says growing student debt loads for parents is ‘something we’re watching very carefully’,” Business Insider, June 7, 2022.
  • “Reform to Student Loans: What Higher Ed Wants,” Inside Higher Ed, June 7, 2022.
  • “What about student loan forgiveness for parents?”, Politico’s Weekly Education (newsletter), June 6, 2022.
  • “$104 Billion In Parent PLUS Student Loans Creating Multi-Generational Debt,” Forbes, June 6, 2022.
  • “Parent PLUS Loan Debt Disproportionately Burdens Black Parents,” Parents, June 6, 2022.
  • “The ‘riskiest’ federal student loans have been left out of forgiveness debate,” Fortune, June 3, 2022.
  • “The Job” Newsletter, Open Campus, June 2, 2022.
  • “Many parents spend more years paying off student debt for their kids than they do raising them, new report finds,” Business Insider, June 1, 2022. This story also appeared in Yahoo News.
  • “Study: Parent PLUS Borrowers and the Racial Wealth Gap,” Diverse Issues in Higher Education, June 1, 2022.
  • “Study: Parent PLUS Loans Increase Racial Debt Burdens,” Inside Higher Ed, June 1, 2022.
  • “Parent PLUS Loan Worsens Racial Debt Inequities, Study Finds,” Insight into Diversity, June 1, 2022.
  • “Many College Students May Not Return Next Fall, Aid Applications And Hot Job Market Suggest,” Forbes, April 28, 2022.
  • “More States Are Requiring High Schoolers to Complete Financial Aid Application,” Marketplace, February 16, 2022.
  • “States Warm to FAFSA Requirements,” Inside Higher Ed, February 9, 2022.
  • “Grads Left Behind $3.75B in Free College Aid in 2021, Study Says,” NerdWallet, January 24, 2022. This article was also published by MarketWatch and Syracuse.com.

2021:

2020:

  • Radio segment on California college students’ access to SNAP benefits, California Public Radio, aired in Sacramento and Los Angeles November 2, 2020.
  • “Why the Affordable Care Act Matters for College Students,” The Daily Tar Heel, October 11, 2020.
  • “Students at Risk Without Obamacare,” Inside Higher Ed, October 5, 2020.
  • “Should States Require Graduating High School Seniors to Complete FAFSA Form?”, KJZZ Phoenix, September 14, 2020.
  • “In A First For NJ, Newark Will Require Students To File A FAFSA In Order To Graduate,” Chalkbeat Newark, August 25, 2020.
  • “Colleges Sit on Emergency Cash Meant for Students,” Newsy, August 13, 2020.
  • “FAFSA Requirement Raised Completion Rates, But Exposed Hurdles to College Aid Access, Study Finds,” Chalkbeat Colorado, July 31, 2020.
  • “New Century Foundation Research Analyzes Impact of Mandatory FAFSA Policy in Louisiana,” Diverse Issues in Higher Education, July 30, 2020.
  • “How Do You Get Low-Income Students to Apply for Federal College Aid? Make It a Law,” Education Week, July 30, 2020.
  • “Impact of Mandatory FAFSA Policies,” Inside Higher Ed, July 30, 2020.
  • “Report: Affordable Care Act Helped Insure Students,” Inside Higher Ed, July 9, 2020.
  • “With No Support Students Cannot Continue to Pay the Same Price for Tuition,” La Voz de Anza, June 12, 2020.
  • “Congress Set Aside $6 Billion for Emergency Grants for College Students. Here’s Who Is Getting the Aid,” Money, May 13, 2020.
  • “Report: Community Colleges Are Being Short-Changed by the CARES Act,” Diverse Issues in Higher Education, May 11, 2020.
  • “Community Colleges Get Smaller Shares of Emergency Grants,” Inside Higher Ed, May 5, 2020.

2019:

  • “Whitmer Launches Financial Aid Challenge as Students Face College Affordability Crisis,” Michigan Advance, December 6, 2019.
  • “Study: Students Bear Brunt of Increased Higher Education Costs, State Funding Cuts,” The Center Square, November 25, 2019.
  • “Study: Rising Tuition, State Funding Cuts Add to Students’ Financial Burden,” Michigan Advance, November 20, 2019.
  • “Priced Out: Michigan Higher Education Out of Reach for Low Income Families,” Michigan Chronicle, September 12, 2019.
  • “Report: Michigan Skimps on Higher Education, and Students of Color Pay the Price,” Chalkbeat Detroit, September 9, 2019.
  • “Report: Funding Cuts, High Tuition Spawn a Cost Crisis at Michigan Colleges,” Bridge MI, September 6, 2019. This article was also published by The Grand Haven Tribune.
  • “Report Examines What ‘Free College’ Really Means,” Diverse Issues in Higher Education, June 9, 2019.

“Every year that lawmakers fail to step in and reverse these trends, a college degree becomes increasingly the privilege of the wealthy… It’s on all of us to keep up the pressure for free community college.”

Op-ed in The Hill, November 2021

“Students owe it to themselves to see what college opportunities they can afford. And we owe it to them to make sure paperwork won’t stand in their way.”

Op-ed in Education and Career News, June 2021

“One of California’s great successes is in college affordability and the fact that so many students go through college without debt,” said Peter Granville, a fellow at the foundation studying federal and state policy efforts to improve college affordability and author of the study. “Unfortunately, the Californians who do borrow take out some of the most risky debt around.”

Quoted in EdSource, September 2023

“Public trust in higher education is at a low and part of that is because people don’t know if the return on their education is worth the investment,” said the Century Foundation’s Granville. “Gainful employment, he said, ensures that students are putting their time and investment into high-value programs … and the evidence suggests that the typical student will not have to look very far.”

Quoted in USA Today, September 2023

“Ten years after taking out a PLUS loan, borrowers whose children attended the colleges with the highest percentage of Black students owe an average of 96 percent of the original principal, according to the Century Foundation. At the schools with the highest levels of white enrollment, the figure sits at 47 percent.”

Ron Leiber in The New York Times, September 2022

“The rising cost of higher education, coupled with state and federal disinvestment, has left families with very few options to ensure their children can earn a degree,” Peter Granville, the report’s author, said in a statement. “That makes these risky but easy-to-obtain loans an attractive option, or at times, the only option for families. But while Parent PLUS loans can open doors for children, they close many doors for the parents who hold them.”

Quoted in Business Insider, June 2022

“One of the most important trends in FAFSA completion overall is that students who need aid to afford college are less likely to apply than those who don’t need the aid. But under Louisiana’s policy, that gap vanished within a remarkably short time.”

Quoted in Inside Higher Ed, February 2022

“According to the Century Foundation’s Granville, the proposal Manchin was instrumental in killing would have furnished West Virginia with $40 million annually in tuition benefits extended to 22,000 students. (Sorry, kids.)”

Timothy Noah in The New Republic, October 2021

“Analyzing federal data, [Granville] found that four in five Louisiana public high schools had completion rates of at least 65% in the first year after the [mandatory FAFSA policy] went into effect, up from one in three in the 2016-17 academic year.”

Melissa Korn in The Wall Street Journal, January 2021

“Both studies found that low-income, Black and Hispanic students in particular have been helped by [the ACA]. Sixty-nine percent of Hispanic students had medical coverage in 2010, according to the Century Foundation. By 2018, that figure had risen to 85 percent. Black students also saw an increase in coverage over that time, from 69 percent to 85 percent, the group’s study found.”

Kery Murakami in Inside Higher Ed, July 2020

“Granville’s calculation is that community colleges will see around $187 per student [in CARES Act emergency grants] versus $337 per student at a public four-year institution. ‘This compounds the existing disparity in resources,’ said Granville. ‘This is just another instance of what has always been true, which is community colleges get the short end of the stick.’”

Lois Elfman in Diverse Issues in Higher Education, May 2020

“A changing economy in Michigan means that education beyond high school, whether a degree or training program, is more important than ever — not just to a family’s well-being, but to the success and strength of the state as a whole. Michigan literally cannot afford for these trends to continue. Reinvesting in higher education means reinvesting in our future. And that needs to start now.”

Op-ed co-authored with Alex Edwards, Detroit News, September 2019

“With hundreds of millions of dollars spent on free college programs, it’s critical that students with financial need can access this growing aid… The rapid growth of such programs makes it even more urgent to ensure they are designed in a way that fulfills their promise.”

Quoted in Diverse Issues in Higher Education, June 2019