Suchergebnisse

A growing number and proportion of students rely on student loans to assist with the costs of postsecondary education. Yet little is known about how first-generation students use federal loans to finance their education. In this article, we examine each of the decisions that culminate in student indebtedness: the decision to apply for aid, whether to borrow, and how much to borrow. We find significant differences by generational status at each step of the student borrowing process. First-generation students are more likely to apply for financial aid, borrow, and take out larger loans than their peers, after controlling for a rich set of covariates for costs and financial resources. We find that student characteristics cannot fully explain these observed differences in borrowing outcomes across generations.

Detailing the morphogenic characteristics of tropical species that form mixed pastures allows a broader view of plant-animal interactions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the intensity and frequency of defoliation in a mixed pasture of forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.) and Alexandergrass (Urochloa plantaginea (Link) Hitch.) grazed by beef heifers and maintained under continuous stocking. The experimental design was completely randomized with two treatments, five evaluation periods, and nine replicates (paddocks). The tillers in each treatment were identified and marked in the same experimental unit (paddock), considering the existence of the pasture mixture. The treatments included forage species, forage sorghum, and Alexandergrass along the pasture cycle. The defoliation intensity of the leaf blades was higher in forage sorghum than in Alexandergrass during the second and fourth evaluation periods. The defoliation frequency of general leaf blades (number of defoliations blade-1 day-1) was higher for forage sorghum (0.13) than for Alexandergrass (0.11; P=0.0001). Total leaf blade mass (kg dry matter ha-1) was higher and lower during the first and fifth evaluation periods, respectively. Alexandergrass maintained leaf blade mass during the last evaluation period, while forage sorghum started the preflowering phenological stage. There was a preference for forage sorghum, but Alexandergrass ensured greater longevity of the system, and mixed pastures of these species are recommended.