The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers several veterans' educational assistance programs for servicemembers and veterans and their family members. The GI Bills are the most well-known and popular veterans' educational assistance programs. The VA estimated that it provided $10.2 billion in benefits to over 800,000 participants in…

Parents and caregivers across Boston continue to face immense challenges to find quality, affordable childcare and this crisis is having a far-reaching impact on our society. Neighborhood disparities continue to exist, but families in all 15 neighborhoods face this challenge -- child care in Boston remains unaffordable for the majority of…

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. students attend rural schools. Researchers report that at least half of public schools are rural in 12 states (i.e., Montana, South Dakota, Vermont, North Dakota, Maine, Alaska, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Mississippi) (Showalter et al., 2019). Providing quality education to all rural students is a…

The first two editions of "Finnish Lessons" described how a small Nordic nation built a school system that provided access to a world-class education for all of its young people. Now available in 30 languages, this Grawemeyer Award-winning book continues to influence education policies and school practices around the globe. In this…

This report presents a survey of distance learning in South Africa. The report reviews current policy and practice in relation to issues of access, equity, quality and costs. This was done using a survey of open distance learning (ODL) institutions, data from different institutions, and available studies conducted by Commonwealth of Learning…

The state of Michigan has set a goal to increase the percentage of residents with a postsecondary degree or credential to 60 percent by 2030. Achieving that goal will require a concerted, strategic, and multipronged effort. Today, less than 50 percent of residents have attained a postsecondary degree or credential. While making college more…

The COVID-19 pandemic has decimated the United States economy and left a record number of individuals unemployed. In slightly under five months, more than 54 million people applied for unemployment for the first time, while the economy contracted by 33 percent, the largest dip in history. While the impact will likely be short-term for some career…

Public Law 2015, Chapter 261 created the Public Higher Education Systems Coordinating Committee to recognize more formally the importance of cooperative efforts between Maine's two public systems of higher education. The Committee is comprised of the Chancellor of the University of Maine System (UMS), the President of the Maine Community College…

This report from JFF with a select group of community college practitioners, makes the case for policymakers, employers and practitioners to invest in and strengthen short-term credentialing programs to rapidly retrain unemployed workers for better career prospects, especially workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes key commitments…

To prepare for the future, state policymakers can learn from the past -- specifically, the Great Recession and the COVID-19 Recession. Drawing on lessons learned from both time periods, the authors of this brief set out to answer the following questions: (1) What lessons from past economic crises might help state policymakers and advocates prepare…

This briefing reports on the findings of qualitative research, funded by the British Educational Research Association (BERA) conducted in late 2020 with 17 parents of autistic children and young people (CYP) attending mainstream schools in England, as well as six autistic CYP themselves. The aim of the research was to generate insight into these…

"The Status of Women in North Carolina: Poverty and Opportunity" is the final publication in a four-part series of publications on women's status in North Carolina. The report builds on the Institute for Women's Policy Research's "Status of Women in the States" initiative, which has sought to measure women's economic, social,…

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education around the world and created extraordinary new challenges for students, families, educators, and policymakers. Its impacts on students' learning and well-being are far reaching, though not yet fully understood. However, early evidence indicates disproportionate effects on students with disabilities, a…

The main objective of this study is to explore various barriers preventing students in Pakistani universities from learning online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Applying a qualitative research design, twelve (12) in-depth interviews were conducted with business school students, selected at undergraduate and graduate levels from six (06)…

Based on polling data collected by New America and Third Way, "Online Isn't Optional: Student Polling on Access to Internet and Devices" outlines which students are facing the gravest technological challenges, including the lack of reliable internet connection and the need to share devices with others in their household, both of which…