Colleges and universities in at least eight states could lose a total of between $970 million and $1.3 billion in scholarship funding under a new rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The states have been misusing funds from the federal welfare program Temporary Assistance for Needy Families that were intended to h...

Inside Higher Ed published a new special report, “Modernizing Postsecondary Policy to Better Support Adult Learners,” with insight provided by HLA’s Julie Peller, executive director, and Amy Ellen Duke-Benfield, managing director of policy and research. This free, print-on-demand report explores how current federal and state policies can ...

Fourteen thousand students dropped out of the Austin Community College District in Texas during the last two academic years. But the institution of more than 36,000 students has a plan to get some of them back. Supported by a $770,765 Education Department grant, that plan involves reaching out to students and connecting them with career…

Ivy League colleges are under growing pressure to broaden their student base by using admission policies that increase the proportion of low- and moderate-income students on campuses and raise their rate of socioeconomic mobility. A new report, released Tuesday by the HEA Group, a research and consulting firm focused on college access and success, ...

“President Joe Biden pledged to double the maximum Pell Grant by 2029, but his recent debt ceiling deal is seemingly at odds with that plan. Biden’s deal struck with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy places spending caps on discretionary spending for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. Factoring in projected inflation over the next two years, the ...

Executive Director Julie Peller is included in the Education section of Washingtonian’s Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People list. The feature includes experts and advocates outside the government who are playing big roles in Washington, D.C.’s policy debates. Julie is recognized for her years of experience on Capitol Hill and helping ...

Measuring ROI in Higher Education “In this episode, Dr. Jason Altmire talks with Julie Peller of Higher Learning Advocates about accountability, ROI in higher education, and the future of the for-profit sector. Julie Peller is the Executive Director of Higher Learning Advocates. She also served as the Deputy Staff Director for the House C...

SAP Requirements Create Barriers to Underserved Students “The brief examines how current SAP policies can be confusing for many students, such as those who are new to college and arrive academically underprepared, do not receive proper advising, or face unexpected life challenges. Institutions can create their own SAP requirements, but at min...

“Representative Virginia Foxx is planning to leverage the decline in public perception of higher education to usher in a new era of stronger accountability for the nation’s colleges and universities in her role as chairwoman of the House education committee. This is ‘exactly the right time’ to reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 196...

“If officials at the U.S. Department of Education hoped the ‘listening sessions’ they arranged this week would provide consensus on whether to stop letting colleges pay outside companies a share of tuition revenue when they help recruit students, they were surely disappointed. Like just about every policy discussion in Washington these da...

“Listen in as state and federal policy experts weigh in on the major themes from 2022 and expectations for 2023. Julie Peller from Higher Learning Advocates walks through the major movements at the federal level and Paola Santana from Lumina Foundation discusses state-level priorities for the upcoming year. Catch up with state leaders from Ar...

“Does the possible sale of the University of Phoenix to a public university system signal the demise of the for-profit higher education sector that Phoenix once epitomized? This week’s episode of The Key analyzes the implications of recent news that a nonprofit affiliated with the University of Arkansas system might buy the former giant among ...