News
Our news, editorial, and analysis on federal policy surrounding higher education’s most pressing issues.
Press
Advocates Push for COVID-19 Benefits for Working College Students
Source: Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Higher Learning Advocates’ nine-point policy recommendations to support college students during the coronavirus pandemic was discussed in a Diverse Issues in Higher Education article. Read the piece here.
Student Story: Illise Ellsworth, University of Utah
Illise Ellsworth was transitioning from Salt Lake Community College to the University of Utah when the pandemic began. While finishing her last semester at Salt Lake Community College, her courses moved online.
The Way Forward in Higher Education
Six months ago, St. Petersburg College operated quite differently. Our ten campuses and learning sites were bustling with students hurrying from classroom to classroom while faculty prepared for vast numbers of in-person lectures and labs. COVID-19 and tragic occurrences of racial injustice have changed everything. Not only for us, but for people a...
Lack of Broadband Access is a Barrier to Our Pandemic Recovery
In Alabama, COVID-19 has our state colored red for a reason other than its political party representation. Our state is considered a ‘hot spot’ due to the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases and deaths. As our nation’s education system grapples with safe ways to re-open in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, communities where inequities…
Q&A with Commissioner Kim Hunter Reed, Louisiana Board of Regents
A Q&A with Commissioner Kim Hunter Reed of the Louisiana Board of Regents. 1. This is, of course, an unusual school year. What does the fall look like for colleges and universities in Louisiana? This academic year will be one of the most challenging we have ever faced—with a global pandemic, racial unrest, and significant…
Q&A with President Lyle Roelofs of Berea College
Berea College, the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, focuses on learning, labor and service. The College admits only academically promising students with limited financial resources, primarily from Kentucky and Appalachia, although students come from 40 states and 70 countries. Every Berea student receives a Tuition Promise ...
A Fall Like No Other
Whether one is returning to college or entering college for the first time, Fall of 2020 is clearly a fall semester like no other. While higher education institutions (HEIs) have been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic since the Spring 2020 semester, what occurs at these institutions this fall will be highly scrutinized and analyzed. Important&h...
Press
Reopening schools can affect all types of students
Source: CBS 19 News
Executive Director Julie Peller appeared on CBS 19 News to discuss colleges and universities reopening this fall and how decisions can affect all of today’s students. Watch the interview here.
Press
Fall semester will be a difficult one for college students
Source: WRAL
Executive Director Julie Peller appeared on WRAL News to discuss how institutions and policymakers can best support today’s students as they return to college this fall. Watch the interview here.
It’s Past Due for Online Education Students and Programs To Be Appreciated
Starting in the 1990s—which is a relatively long time ago for me and many Millenials (I went to elementary school in the ‘90s!)—the budding pathway of distance education and later online education for undergraduate and graduate degrees became one that students began to take at many institutions. In 1995, more than one-third of US institutions...
How the Pandemic Experience Could be an Opportunity to Improve Online Learning: Let’s Not Waste It!
Who would have guessed that it would take a pandemic to expose online education as a critical modality to keep students connected to their educational studies? Well, it happened, and online education is proving to be an effective extension or alternative to the traditional classroom that many of us in higher education have recognized for…
Is Online Higher Education Working? Only Data Will Tell
As thousands of colleges and millions of college students prepare for a fall semester that will likely be partially or fully online, it may not have been comforting to see the President of the United States’ recent tweet: This tweet reflects a few realities. The first is that while the promise of online higher education…
