A Q&A with Julie Peller, Executive Director for Higher Learning Advocates

Women browsing books at foreign bookstore

Insights & Outlooks: Last month marked the 11th anniversary of the last reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA). For HEA to better support today’s students, what are you hoping to see updated in the next reauthorization of HEA? Today’s students are now more diverse in age, race, and income level than any previous generation.…

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Encouraging State Higher Ed Investments through Federal-State Partnerships

As the nation prepares for yet another attempt at reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, it is crucial to remember the history of this seminal legislation as well as the current plight of public higher education and the reality facing students across the nation. In 1965, when Lyndon Johnson signed the original HEA into reality as…

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Jan Yoshiwara: Channeling 1960’s Student Activism For 21st Century Change

portrait of Jan Yoshiwara Mug

Jan Yoshiwara counts herself lucky to have been in high school and college in California during a time of excitement, change and activism in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Her family had been detained in internment camps during World War II, and Jan understood what prejudice looked and felt like through the stories she…

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Guiding Today’s Students with Equity in Mind

student reading research papers at a college library

Successfully navigating the college experience is not easy, particularly for today’s students.  Knowing where and from whom to get help can mean the difference between success or failure for students of color and those with low incomes who are opportunity youth, adults, parents, immigrants, first-generation college attendees, or justice-impacted individuals. Students find that pursuing a postsecondary credential…

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CMT Shines Spotlight on Tennessee Community Colleges

CMT shines spotlight on Tennessee Community College Concert

I first heard about CMT’s “Empowering Education” initiative late last year when the country music network announced it would stage free concerts at four Tennessee community colleges this spring to encourage more Tennesseans to attend college. The concerts were targeted toward our colleges primarily serving rural areas where college-going rates are generally lower, and especially…

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Elijah Cummings Working With Florida Congressman to Help Veterans at Colleges, Universities

U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho and Rep. Elijah Cummings introduced the “Safeguarding Student Veterans Act,” which would increase “coordination between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Education “through pushing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs “to better understand and track the risks that certain schools pose to empower veterans when deciding on which…

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Groups Align to Advocate for Today’s Students

Higher Learning Advocates joins with “groups representing veterans, working adults and historically underrepresented students” to form the Today’s Students Coalition to advocate for postsecondary policies that support their success. Read the entire article from Inside Higher Ed here.

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Higher Learning Advocates Endorses “Closing the College Hunger Gap Act”

Higher Learning Advocates expresses our strong support for the Closing the College Hunger Gap Act of 2019. This legislation would provide college students who may be eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) with eligibility and application information and would require the Department of Education to collect data on food and housing insecurity. Read our…

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