In spring 2020, a worldwide pandemic caused many postsecondary institutions to pivot from face-to-face to online learning for the remainder of the semester. While some institutions reverted to face-to-face teaching in fall 2020, many institutions mainly remained online. As a result, the effect of students' disparate access to enabling technology…

In 2023, Federal Pell Grant funding was reinstated for learners who are incarcerated, and new regulations were released to govern the eligibility of higher education in prison programs for such funding. This has driven increased interest in higher education in prison programming, as programs look to help their students access Pell grants and…

Pell eligibility for incarcerated people is a great rehabilitative opportunity, but several challenges remain. This article recaps five of the issues identified by the original research articles in this special issue. It also considers how solutions proposed in these studies may be beneficial across a variety of these issues and gathers…

The landscape of higher education in prison programming is in the midst of a sea change. After eight years of the Second Chance Pell experiment, federal Pell grant funding for students who are incarcerated was fully reinstated on July 1, 2023. While Pell reinstatement will likely increase educational access for students who are incarcerated, it…

In Fall of 2022, Ithaka S+R launched a first-of-its-kind national survey on technology access in higher education in prison programs. The survey asked respondents about student access to technology in their Higher Education in Prison (HEP) program, focusing on four thematic areas: technological devices, learning management systems and software,…

In the face of unprecedented challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Diné College, America's first tribal college, emerged as a beacon of resilience and innovation. Diné College demonstrated resilience through the creation of new programs, investment in technology, commitment to student readiness, pursuit of economic development, and the…

This qualitative study examines how 30 low-income students' sense of belonging is affected by financial constraints. Guided by Strayhorn's (2012) sense of belonging concept, 30 low-income participants discussed how their financial positioning shaped their belongingness experiences. Findings illustrated participants' financial position shaped sense…

Rural Americans often face challenges in education and, as a result, long-term economic stability due to a deficiency in access to digital resources, minimal opportunities for advanced education, and a lack of community support and value placed on educational achievements. This article explores these deficiencies through the theoretical framework…

Achieving prosperity for all Americans could not be more urgent. Although the United States remains the most prosperous nation on earth, millions of citizens are losing faith in the American dream of upward mobility, and in American-style capitalism itself. This crisis of confidence has widened the divide afflicting American politics and cries out…

The pandemic was, in some ways, a sneak preview of higher education's future, one in which technology-mediated and -enabled education is ubiquitous, but with the potential for deep inequities in access to high-quality learning. This report describes some of the ways in which higher education succeeded and fell short during the remarkable 2020-21…

The transition from high school to postsecondary education is one of the most important points in a student's educational journey. Yet, as students attempt to navigate the many steps involved in accessing postsecondary education, it is also a juncture where students are most at risk of falling off track. The responses to the COVID-19 pandemic --…

In October 2019, the Public School Forum of North Carolina launched Study Group XVII: Supporting North Carolina's Rural Students. Building on the Forum's long history of exploring the most pressing issues impacting North Carolina's public schools, the seventeenth Study Group convened thought leaders from education, academia, policy, and business…

President Biden is committed to seeking and providing the necessary resources to support the safe operation of institutions of higher education (IHEs) and addressing the ongoing impacts resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education students, adult education students, faculty, and staff. In Volume 3 of this Handbook, a series to support…

Immigrants are a vital part of America and help form the backbone of the economy and communities. Too often, however, immigrants are not given the same educational opportunities or necessary attention as their native-born peers in high school, leading to lower high school graduation rates and postsecondary attainment. Immigrant students face added…

Each year, Austin Independent School District Department of Research and Evaluation (DRE) staff develop a plan of work to describe the scope of work for the coming year. The plans that make up this document identify programs to be evaluated and services to be provided by DRE staff and provide the blueprints for evaluation that staff will follow…