Since the post-George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter/Antifa riots of last summer, the left has become increasingly insistent about the need to "do more" to eliminate what it sees as "systemic racism"--a demand that implicitly, and often explicitly, rejects as woefully inadequate the results of what is by now almost fifty…

The COVID-19 crisis has upended life in the United States, extending well beyond health and safety concerns. Millions of Americans have faced financial instability as states have shut down their economies to curb the spread of the virus. As the COVID-19 crisis continues to unfold, drawing lessons from history on resilience and recovery can inform…

Higher education offers many benefits to individuals and society--including increased employment opportunities and higher wages--and can help disrupt cycles of intergenerational poverty by improving economic outcomes for those who earn postsecondary credentials. Public community and technical colleges offer a relatively affordable, open-access…

In 2013, the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) proposed as the state goal that 70 percent of the state's 25- to 44-year-olds (i.e., early and mid-career residents) should have a credential beyond high school. WSAC's Strategic Action Plan (SAP) provides a framework to organize the policy and practice innovation needed to achieve this…

Higher education systems equip individuals with the tools they need to succeed in the labor market with higher-paying jobs that lead to improved living standards and more secure and fulfilling lives. Higher education was critical in the recovery from the last recession, and during the COVID-19 crisis, higher education has acted as a protective…

Spring 2020 marked the onset of one of the most tumultuous eras in recent memory. The rapid spread of COVID-19 wreaked havoc on communities across the globe, and in the U.S., the epicenter of the outbreak was located in Washington State. Beyond the immediate concerns around personal health and safety, COVID-19 produced a host of other issues that…

In this dissertation, I build on scholarship on antiracist, culturally sustaining, translingual and ecological theories in composition studies to argue that equitable, accessible pedagogies affirm students' role as co-creators in producing knowledge alongside their peers and instructors and that antiracist ecological frameworks can aid writing…

In 2019, the Washington Student Achievement Council adopted a Strategic Framework to better understand how state higher education policy contributes to campus and student success. The framework organizes the policy work into four areas deemed essential to achieve the 70 percent goal: (1) Affordability; (2) Enrollment; (3) Completion; and (4)…

Community college students aspiring to transfer into STEM majors at a four-year institution face a complicated and nuanced admissions process. In some cases, students may be admitted to the four-year transfer institution but face additional requirements to enter a STEM major. This study of community college underserved students of color, women,…

In this brief, the authors aim to equip policymakers and advocates for higher education opportunity and equity with a framework for analyzing and pushing for "equity-driven" free college policy. The purpose is not to challenge the momentum around free college, but to understand how programs can be designed to advance opportunity and…

College is one of the most reliable routes to economic security for parents and their children. College credentials are linked to increased earnings, higher rates of employment, lower poverty rates, and improved economic and educational outcomes among the children of college graduates. Student parents and their families stand to gain…

More than 1 million U.S. high schoolers participate each year in dual enrollment, taking college courses that simultaneously fulfill high school graduation requirements and count toward a postsecondary degree or workforce credential. While most systems still have equity gaps in dual enrollment access, 20 percent do not. In "The Dual…

Aspen and the Community College Research Center studied nine dual enrollment programs across three states--Florida, Ohio, and Washington--that have narrowed or closed equity gaps in dual enrollment for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander students. Based on this research, "The Dual Enrollment Playbook" describes the five…

This study uses data from the CGS/GRE Survey of Graduate Enrollment and Degrees and a methodology that supports causal inference to examine the effects of affirmative action bans in Texas, California, Washington, and Florida on graduate student of color enrollment. The findings show that the bans have reduced by 12.2% the average proportion of…

A majority of all high school students engage in the labor force by the time they complete their senior year. Few studies have investigated the long-term educational trajectories of student workers after high school graduation. Even fewer research studies have concerned themselves with ascriptive stratification patterns of the teenage labor…