The three pandemic relief bills passed by Congress since March 2020 collectively provide about $75 billion for U.S. colleges--as well as the students they serve. The legislation has brought three waves of funding to community colleges, known as Higher Education Emergency Relief Funding (HEERF) I, HEERF II, and HEERF III. Colleges must spend a…

This year's report examines the critical role community plays in education. Integrating learning that takes place inside and outside of school has always been a powerful strategy to support student success, but it gained special relevance this year, as school closures made family and community members integral parts of students' daily learning.…

State policy leaders have an opportunity to take leadership in protecting students--and especially student veterans--from being targeted by predatory colleges. Given failings by the federal government to police for-profit colleges and to ensure basic rights for students to attend college without being defrauded, it now falls to the states to step…

The purpose of this brief is to provide school-level examples of how early college practitioners are collecting and using data to improve their practices. Examples three and four are school-level data from two early college partnerships: the MetroWest CPC (Framingham, Milford, Waltham), and Lawrence. The brief begins, however, with the national…

Many Virginians aspiring to earn a four-year degree intentionally begin their journey at one of the 23 community colleges within the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). In concert with those aspirations, the VCCS is committed to providing its residents an affordable and accessible program of study that prepares them to transfer and earn a…

Food insecurity among low income students has increased during COVID-19, and could persist for months or years for students saddled with educational debt or facing uncertain unemployment. Access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for children has a proven effect on reducing childhood food insecurity, and when students…

This two-page executive summary highlights primary points from the report, "Connecting Community College Students to SNAP: Lessons from States That Have Expanded SNAP Access and Minimized the 'Work for Food' Requirement." The report recommends two primary pathways state policymakers, education agencies, college administrators, and…

Looking to put some of its community members--many of whom have seen their jobs evaporate amid a troubled economy--back to work, administrators at Berkshire Community College (BCC) in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, have committed as much as $200,000 in grant money to establish a new job corps that will give low-income or displaced workers free…