Brenda 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...
News
Our news, editorial, and analysis on federal policy surrounding higher education’s most pressing issues.
Affordable Higher Education is Essential to Preserving the Black Middle Class
Higher education has long been touted as a gateway to the middle class. This is especially critical for black Americans, as blacks still face economic adversity in not only achieving middle-income status, but also maintaining this status for future generations. In 2017, about 40 percent of black households qualify as middle class, with household in...
When Brand Names Don’t Fit
Over the past few decades, many education advocates and reformers have advanced a philosophy that what low income, students of color need most is to attend a brand name institution, filled with wealthy students whose families have attended college for generations. For years, people have focused on undermatching – a philosophy that says that very&...
Beating the Odds in Tennessee: A Q&A with Kenyatta Lovett, Executive Director of Complete Tennessee
Insights & Outlooks: Can you share more about your personal story and why equity in higher education matters to you? Kenyatta Lovett: My higher education story begins with the college journeys of my father and mother. Both were the first in their family to go to college. My father sat out a year after high…
Stephanie Shaw: Using Business Acumen to Drive Change in Education
It was never a question of if Stephanie Shaw would attend college. She always knew she would. A first-generation college student, she had to rely heavily on her extended family members, friends, and teachers who had attended college to lead her in the right direction. “I have been very, very fortunate to have educators in…
Recommendations to Support Students of Color
Today, Higher Learning Advocates submitted proposals in response to a request from Senator Doug Jones (D-AL), Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) on empowering students of color and ensuring their success in postsecondary education. Today’s students, and in particular today’s ...
Press
Can they find common ground on HEA?
Source: Community College Daily
Julie Peller was on a panel at the Inside Higher Education Leadership Series event, where she discussed challenges Congress may encounter while working toward comprehensive HEA reauthorization.
Seeing the Forest Beyond the Trees: Connections in Negotiated Rulemaking
The US Department of Education’s (ED) proposals for new regulations presented to the negotiating team in the current negotiated rulemaking (aka “neg reg”) are being thoroughly analyzed by a number of constituents. These thought leaders are dissecting the issue, the history of the issue, reasons for change from status quo and, at times, the ri...
I’m Not Wonder Woman: A Student Parent’s Story
“There’s never enough time!” As a parent and student, I say this to myself nearly every semester, but yet I keep signing up for a full course load. I guess I must be a glutton for punishment, as I barely have free time to begin with without the added pressures of taking four classes. You…
State and Federal Cooperation Can Improve Higher Education Quality
A truth that many of us are taught from a young age is the ability to work well with others is a critical component to success. One consistent life lesson is to develop and nurture a skill set and internal compass that allow us to collectively assemble multiple parts and skills for the benefit of…
Aaron Thompson’s Journey from Childhood Poverty to Kentucky’s SHEEO
“Too many of our students see college as a foreign place that wasn’t designed for them. They hear about it, they went to many schools that they felt disenfranchised in. College just becomes a bigger foreign place to feel disenfranchised in. We need students to feel empowered to maneuver, to self-advocate and put themselves in…
Partnering to Improve Student Success in Central New Mexico: A Q&A with Angelo Gonzales
Insights & Outlooks: What do you think distinguishes or differentiates the role that a community-based organization like United Way of Central New Mexico can play in supporting student success at the local level? Angelo Gonzales: As the Chief Strategy Officer at United Way of Central New Mexico (UWCNM), I direct all of our grantmaking and&helli...
Balancing Quality with Innovation: Key Issues at Stake in Negotiated Rulemaking
This month, watchers of higher ed policy were busy with talk of negotiated rulemaking (or “neg reg”), as the U.S. Department of Education kicked off a series of significant proposed regulatory changes with far-reaching consequences. Federal law requires the Department to follow this complicated process in order to make any regulatory changes to...