Posts by Robyn Bland
Today’s Students Coalition Welcomes 2024-25 Student Ambassador Fellows
(From left) Lilith Breazeale, Oklahoma State University; Phoebe Truong, University of California, Berkeley; Karina Villeda, University of Minnesota—Twin Cities; Savanna Worley, University of Minnesota—Twin Cities. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today’s Students Coalition (TSC) announced its newest cohort of Student Ambassador Fellows today. In its third year, the fellowship annually recognizes four outstanding student-advocates and aims…
Read More1 In 5 College Students Have Kids. Here’s How To Help Them Balance Books And Babies
One in five college students is a parent, according to an Aspen Institute initiative on postsecondary education. These learners are balancing two demanding worlds: the challenge of managing coursework and classroom deadlines while also meeting the needs of their children, often with little sleep and few breaks. Even in the open access, low-cost community college…
Read MoreToday’s Students Coalition, Nearly 50 Partners, Student Advocates Celebrate Senate Resolution Designating September 2024 as National Student Parent Month
Today’s Students Coalition along with 49 partner organizations and student parent advocates signed on to a letter to Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Tom Carper (D-DE) thanking Congress for passing the National Student Parent Month resolution. For the fourth consecutive year, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution designating September as a national celebration of…
Read MoreCould a Wealth-Based Pell Grant Close Racial Gaps in Student Debt?
As concerns about college affordability and the economic burden of student loan debt grow, some experts say it might be time not only to boost the budget for federal financial aid but also to go back to the drawing board on how that aid is allocated. Currently, the federal government awards the Pell Grant to…
Read MoreIncreased Financial Aid Can Increase Demand for Basic Needs Services
In the fall of 2019, after years of declining enrollment, higher education institutions in New Mexico were seeking a new way to attract adult learners in the hopes of matching the state’s peak head count of around 154,000 postsecondary students, last achieved in 2010. A year later, the state made great gains toward doing just that after establishing an…
Read MoreHigher Learning Advocates Transitions to Today’s Students Coalition, Names Board
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Higher Learning Advocates (HLA) has long promoted the needs of today’s students throughout the country in higher education, and now a redefined future is on the horizon. In May, HLA announced a transition is underway, uniting its federal policy and coalition wings to operate exclusively under a known name,…
Read MoreGAO Report on Students’ Food Insecurity Highlights SNAP Gap
Two-thirds of the 3.3 million college students eligible for federal food assistance in 2020 didn’t access it, the Government Accountability Office found in a report released Wednesday. Requested by Democratic lawmakers in 2021, the report comes as Congress is in the midst of updating the Farm Bill, a sprawling piece of legislation that sets policy for agriculture and…
Read MoreThe Edge: What “today’s students” still need
If you’ve heard the phrase “today’s students” used to describe the many adults and other so-called nontraditional students who make up a huge share of the population now attending college, you’ve got Julie Peller to thank for the nomenclature. She helped to make the term popular while at the Lumina Foundation and then at Higher…
Read MoreHLA and More Than 70 Organizations, Individuals Urge Congress to Extend the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in the Next Appropriations Legislation
Higher Learning Advocates and more than 70 partner organizations and individuals submitted a letter asking Congress to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) with continued funding in the next appropriations legislation. Like most Americans, college students rely on internet services every day to connect with colleagues and faculty, conduct research, and complete coursework. And, many…
Read MoreBrenda Brooks dropped out of college 40 years ago. Federal rules mean she can’t afford to go back.
Lately, Englewood native Brenda Brooks has had a tough time finding work. The 60-year-old has decades of experience at CVS and the historic Regal Theater in Avalon Park. But recently, prospective employers have told her, “ ‘You have the qualifications, but this requires you to have a degree,’ ” she said. “And I don’t have…
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