The MDRC just published a paper demonstrating what many of us on the ground have known for years: year-round financial aid makes a positive difference in both speed and likelihood of degree completion.

It makes sense. “Summer melt” isn’t confined to the high school years. January intersession can be a tremendous boon to students, since it allows extended focus on one thing. (It’s especially good for certain lab classes, since long periods allow for more ambitious experiments.)  

The beauty of year-round financial aid is that it’s conceptually simple, and it works in concert with the completion agenda. When students who are on a roll have to stop out simply because the aid clock won’t restart for several months, life gets more chances to get in the way.  

Year-round aid existed for a hot minute, but it came and went so quickly, and with so little fanfare, that many colleges didn’t get a chance to take full advantage. Now that completion is very much front-and-center, bringing it back would make sense. In 2015, it’s hard to argue with a straight face that national higher education policy should take the agrarian calendar as sacrosanct.  Let’s recognize reality, and realize the gains from continuity.

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