A growing number of community and technical colleges have made significant commitments to designing and sustaining supportive learning environments that help all students, including student mothers, realize their potential while also integrating the necessary academic, career, and personal supports that make it possible for an increasingly…

The Alaska Performance Scholarship (APS) is beginning its tenth year rewarding students who strive to excel in high school and continue their education in degree and certificate programs in Alaska. This report covers the high school, postsecondary, Alaska residency, and workforce outcomes of the APS program between 2011-Fall 2019. [For…

Robbins Carter's portrait of the librarian workforce is still true. According to the latest American Library Association (ALA) demographics, the profile of today's librarian is that of a white (87.1 percent) woman (80.7 percent) of middle age (57.1 percent, age 45 or older) (ALA, 2013). Despite these data, support for increased diversity is…

This Model State Policy Agenda aims to provide National College Access Network (NCAN) members and partners, particularly those in networks or coalitions, with a guide to develop their own policy goals. This publication discusses affordability of higher education and talent development of students.

This annual report describes Utah System of Higher Education's progress in the 2015-2016 academic year in the following areas: (1) Strategic plan; (2) Enrollment and completion; (3) Paying for college; (4) Funding higher education; (5) College preparation; (6) Concurrent enrollment and math; (7) Outreach and access; and (8) Industry and the…

This paper provides a conceptual framework that examines the interrelationship between state and institutional finance policies, including state appropriations, tuition and financial aid. It explores how state higher education goals can be advanced through outcomes-based funding policies that provide incentives for institutional behavior, and how…

Today education and training beyond high school are more essential to our success as individuals and as a nation than ever before. Americans have responded to these new realities, and education beyond high school is now the norm in the US. These trends make the federal Higher Education Act (HEA), which governs federal student aid programs and…

A nationwide discussion that is currently taking place related to student loan debt; a number of presidential candidates are discussing ideas for student loan forgiveness. Some states have offered free community college as a possible solution. Free community college would allow students to save money for two years before transferring to a…

The "State of Student Aid and Higher Education in Texas" ("SOSA") annual report from Trellis Research provides information helpful in informing policy and programs for higher education student financial aid. The report serves as a reference for colleges, universities, and policymakers, and provides a comparison of Texas state…

Every adolescent faces challenges as they navigate their teenage years, but for some these challenges imperil their ability to complete their education. While these four students' experiences are dramatically different, they have one thing in common: high school didn't work for them, meaning that each faced long odds of ever attaining a diploma,…

The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (DL) program, authorized under Title IV, Part D of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA), as amended, is the primary federal student loan program administered by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The program makes available loans to undergraduate and graduate students and the parents of dependent…

This Summary highlights the findings from the First Look full report. The findings in this report provide the first national estimates of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on postsecondary students. Researchers have previously collected and reported data at institution, state, and international levels (Aristovnik et al. 2020; Aucejo et al. 2020;…

Budget 2019 brings welcome investments for students. It does not address however, key challenges facing Canada's colleges and universities, resulting from stagnant government funding for core operating costs. Budget 2019 commitments to making post-secondary more affordable average around $650 million per year for five years and include investments…

Early awareness strategies, from outreach campaigns to cohort-based learning groups to scholarships, are a group of efforts that help middle school students stay on the path to college and understand how to fund their education. These strategies become part of early awareness programs, which seek to put students on a college-going path by…

Honors has specifically and historically done a commendable job of tailoring education to the special needs and challenges of the most intellectually and academically capable young people, the future leaders and innovators of society, but the introduction of an imperative to make money threatens to corrupt the whole enterprise. For this reason,…