This dissertation is focused on the reasons students do not complete the financial aid process and what resources are needed to change that. Lira used the qualitative methodology to gather information directly from students which brought up issues like,lack of direct support and follow-ups. Based on the students' responses Lira was able to narrow it down to six themes. Given that this dissertation is based on a study there is a potential that it could be biased. However, several techniques were used to minimize bias such as peer debriefings, creating a reflexivity log, and member checking transcripts. This dissertation gives insight on the lack of access to financial aid by demonstrating the inadequacy in the process of filling out the FAFSA. It also reveals what resources should be implemented to help students successfully complete the financial aid process.

This article from Opoku Gapo and 2 others was written on the association between financial aid and graduation rates. One of the main points made is that students who attend mid-high poverty and high poverty schools graduate at lower rates than low poverty schools.The goals of this study are to assess if there is an association between the socioeconomic statuses of communities students come from, and graduation rates.This study received support from NC State University’s institutional review board. They were able to acquire data on CALS students admitted in the 2013-2017 academic years from the admissions office and the office of enrollment management and services. This source gives us insight on what areas in the financial aid process may need to be looked into to ensure everyone receives the financial aid they need to have a successful higher education.

This article from Meredith Billings and two others was written about how policymakers frame financial aid based on one's “deservingness” in competition for the New Mexico Opportunity Scholarship. This article is written to inform people about this specific scholarship in New Mexico and how people are chosen for it because it is not fair to everyone. It highlights how supporters of this scholarship emphasize the opportunity and access someone can gain due to the funding that this scholarship gives for a higher education. It further emphasizes how financial aid is not easily accessible for everyone. This source is very clear in its wording and every author is an expert in higher education policies. This is relevant because it highlights how framing from lawmakers affects the access and equity for financial aid which is useful in understanding the broader issues such as fairness and inclusion for everyone.

This article by the company Plaid specifies the increasing amount of scams in America that are claiming students’ financial aid as if they are the student. The company uses examples from countless states including California, Texas, Maryland and Alabama which have all had cases of scammers using the identity of an actual student in order to claim the Pell Grant as their own. This is a wicked problem because there are countless students who rely on the financial aid from the government in order to get a college education. It explains further on ways to help prevent this from happening again due to the fact that over $100 million annually are stolen as financial fraud.

In her dissertation, Johnson takes a close look at how different kinds of financial aid impact students' persistence in community colleges, pointing out that there hasn't been enough research on this specific group. She found that larger grants and work-study options really help students stick with their education. This source does a great job detailing the research methods used and brings attention to some significant gaps that still need to be explored. While the focus is on community college students, it also shows that when financial aid increases, overall college retention tends to improve. This work offers important insights into how financial aid policies affect student success and backs our research aimed at promoting fairness in financial access to higher education.

This article from the Education Data Initiative makes known the data on the average cost of college in the United States, stating the average cost is around $38,270 per year for a full time undergraduate student, including tuition fees, books, housing, and supplies. It also highlights the average cost of in and out of state and private schools from two year and four year programs and the significant increase of pricing. The text represents up to date statistics of institutional pricing. Although it is not a scholarly source, it gives public results from the United States. These statistics show the drastic price increase and how much more it is for students to get an education, making sense of why we need more financial help when it comes to higher education to help us with our wicked problem.

This source is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal article that discusses how many first-generation students face challenges during the financial aid process and how better resources could improve their experiences. The author of this article has over twenty years of higher education experience, which adds to their credibility, and the article is peer-reviewed. It is relevant to our topic as it explains the limited access that college students have, specifically first-generation college students. It highlights how the limitation of support and access to resources can impact students in the future, and it proposes solutions like preparing students early on in high school to avoid those barriers.

This dissertation explains the barriers and limitations that Black first-generation college graduates have to face. It shows that even though one can succeed in higher education, it is not accomplished easily. The author wrote this dissertation for their doctorate, which adds to their credibility. This is relevant to our topic as it highlights not only the limitations but also the impacts that those limitations can have on students. Systematic barriers, along with limited support and access, can take a toll on students' academic careers.

The National Association of Student Financial Aid reveals that the biggest barrier preventing people from enrolling in higher education and being able to successfully obtain a degree is the cost of attendance. It supports this claim with statistical evidence and thorough analysis of the topic as it highlights that beyond tuition, factors like needing to work, and not being given enough financial aid or scholarships play a large role in holding people back from completing higher ed programs and in many cases, even starting them. This article is not only reliable but also very strong. The source is from a national organization that is credible on the topic of problems students face in higher education, specifically the importance of certain resources that often create obstacles in the success of college students. Additionally, this source is relevant to our focus as it discusses our wicked problem in depth and provides critical evidence as support.

This source provides information about how students at Qatar University use campus support services and how that use affects their academic success and determination. In addition, it illustrates the differences in help-seeking behavior between different groups of students and talks about challenges students face in utilizing the services available. Furthermore, this article is trustworthy as it comes from an educational institution. It is also very relevant to our topic, which makes it a strong and reliable source.

This article focuses on the challenges that first-generation students face, including a lack of resources and hidden rules of college success that many peers from educated families possess. The lack of resources, including fewer financial resources and less familiarity with the college environment, is linked to higher failure rates and a greater struggle to succeed in higher education. This source's primary insight is that the lack of resources in higher ed is a deficit in cultural and social capital. Cultural capital is defined in the article as the hidden knowledge about the school system and its norms, while social capital is the network of relationships that provide guidance and support. The source quantifies the severity of this problem, stating that as a result of this lack of resources, especially among first generation students, "up to 50% stop attending during the first year". This is a peer-reviewed scholarly source that is a doctoral dissertation article submitted to North Carolina State University. The author is Dr. Johnathan Ryan Ricks, who is an expert in the field with a PhD in Counseling and Counselor Education and experience as a school counselor and university academic advisor who provides students with the college transition firsthand.

The article provides evidence of student-centered and transactional feedback and their differing effects on students. It also encourages universities to utilize a more engaging feedback strategy to better student improvement and involvement. It supports the viewpoint that higher ed is really a teacher-based field that leaves students out of the loop in their own learning environment. The article is reliable because the author is affiliated with two schools of education and learning assessment as well as citing her sources.

This article informs about additional academic support classes as they relate to and affect confidence levels, anxiety and success. It provides test results for anxiety and confidence levels in and out of support classes as well as the results for the following year after completion. It proves that, provided the right support and care, students do want to succeed and will. The authors are all in student learning, education and service leadership positions at Nipissing University.

This article focuses on enhancing academic performance, fostering peer intellectual support, and influencing educational and professional trajectories for students, primarily based on financial ID support for students with financial and learning needs.

In this scholarly article the authors share their findings on low-income/first generation students regarding their academic struggles, and to continue with their post-secondary education. The authors shared their methodology, and focused on the efficiency of The Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) Program, in which students get help to successfully get into college during their high school years. The source provides references to back up their background information, as well as the methodology, results, and data of their research; this gives credibility to the information and data used. Furthermore, the article comes from an educational institution, and the authors have educational background in the same institution in which the research took place. The article provides a secondary source in which students shared their struggles, in which one of those financial struggles were mentioned. This information could be relevant in order to promote efficient solutions, by using the UBMS program as a starting point. The information provided supports the use of programs during high school years, helping students to transition to college.

This website article from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administration (NASFAA) organization, where it analyzes and makes sense of the data coming from an annual report conducted by Gallup and Lumina foundation. The data coming from surveys shows the difficulties for people to continue, or start a postsecondary education. The source is not scholarly, coming from a staff reporter from the organization NASFAA, with their own interpretation of the information . This could mean that there could be some interest from the organization, but the information coming from the report doesn’t really change even with a use of interest. The information provided from the report can help to provide background information, showing statistics from the research. Also, the information mostly refers to financial struggles from people that experienced, or never experienced a postsecondary education because of financial struggle; this information links to our wicked problem.

This dissertation researches some of the academic and non-academic barriers students in English courses face, and their implications on their performance. The author focuses her studies on a corequisite English course in a community college in Kentucky; the research reveals some of the struggles related with the college services, Financial aid, gateway courses, academic level, and their implications to mental health in the students. The source provides plenty of background information with their corresponding references, demonstrating the understanding of the author on the topic. Also, the author shows her methodology and results from it; Demonstrating transparency and credibility of the research with less possible bias. The information provided by the research shows some of the struggles that students face during early years of college, where we can see that financial struggles continue to be a common factor. The author gives points of why these problems found in community colleges must be addressed, and possible solutions but not with great focus. The information found in this source provides more information referring to financial struggles, and it links with other problems in the institutions.

The author Dennis Pierce, a Yale University graduate and educational journalist, brings focus on how financial aid doesn’t cover all of the struggles students face. His article provides solutions and strategies for those who are struggling in college. This source is highly credible because of Dennis Pierce’s credentials, he is both an education journalist with over two decades of experience and a Yale graduate. While not traditionally peer-reviewed or scholarly, the source is a professional journal with a credible publication (AACC, American Association of Community Colleges). This is relevant to our research due to the source’s exploration of the limitations of financial aid, and what helps support students beyond financial aid’s scope of support.

The article's thesis claims that rising costs of higher education are not due to commonly thought of ideas, such as faculty salaries or mismanagement by institutions. Rather, he claims, they are caused by student service demands, decreased investment, and competition from institutions. The source is credible because the author, Steven Brint, is a professor of Sociology at the University of California. The European Journal of Education also peer-reviews this work to ensure scholarly standards. This is relevant to our research because it explores the many supposed causes and solutions for the rising costs of higher education that are specifically more detrimental towards lower-income students.

The source provides its thesis by claiming that financial barriers, struggles, and stress affect the social lives and academic performance of students. The research focus is to provide insight into higher education students’ experiences by inspecting the impact and effects of financial stress on their well-being and health. It explains further by explaining that students who are struggling financially have difficulty navigating their relationships with more wealthy peers and friends. The source is credible due to having multiple authors having University credentials and backgrounds (University of Southern California). It is a recent source being only from 2021 making it credible to our current times. The source had also been peer-reviewed before publication. This is relevant to our research because it provides insight to the mental environment of low-income students, along with how they feel about barriers they have to face.