Resources
Today’s Students Coalitions’ federal policy resources include the most current data on adult students, parenting students, college affordability, equity, and more. Our work has resulted in positive change for today’s students, including access to discounted broadband for Pell students, the establishment of emergency aid funds, and increased financial aid for parenting students.
How Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) Can Benefit Today’s Students
Higher Learning Advocates’ Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) Backgrounder offers an expert analysis that examines the roots of CPL and a 50-state table based on a nationwide review of CPL laws and legislation. Drawing on lessons learned from institutions nationwide, the policy paper puts forward three actionable recommendations for Congress that would allow today’s students…
Recommendations to Assess Low-Value Postsecondary Programs
Today, Higher Learning Advocates submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) in response to its request for information (RFI) to assess the financial value of postsecondary programs. Today’s students deserve a system that produces the financial outcomes that matter to them: high-quality learning and programs that lead to timely completion and prepare students…
Updated 101: Today’s Students
Today’s Students 101 Higher Learning Advocates’ Today’s Students 101 contextualizes who today’s students are and why their needs matter to help inform essential higher education policy conversations. Understanding who today’s students are is fundamental to creating a higher learning system that leads to their success. HLA’s Updated Today’s Students 101 features: The newest data…
Braided Funding Backgrounder
Today’s students follow myriad pathways to and through higher learning. Providing today’s students with wraparound supports and tools to navigate complex career pathways systems can greatly boost their chances of success, but requires multiple resources. For students, this means the programs they rely on for career and income mobility have limited sets of resources from…
Higher Education Policy Toolkit
Education creates opportunities and is integral to maintaining America’s globally competitive economy. An educated workforce begins in local communities and expands to the state, the nation, and the world. Higher Learning Advocates higher education policy toolkit for the 118th Congress focuses on connecting opportunity, supporting students, and delivering value with solutions to help strengthen our nation’s…
101: Means-Tested Federal and State Programs
Means-tested federal and state programs help millions of low-income Americans access housing, food, health care, child care, and more. But complex programs combined with myriad eligibility requirements can make it difficult for students to access these benefits. This 101 provides an outline of the programs, how each program is connected to college students’ needs, and…
Online Program Managers (OPMS): Ensuring Quality & Protecting Innovation
Over the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic and the changing needs of today’s students have necessitated an unprecedented shift towards online learning. Institutions of higher education were able to meet this demand partially due to online program management entities, or OPMs. OPMs are service providers which work through contracts with universities to bring academic…
Outsourcing Online Programs: Policy Options for OPM Oversight
As a form of outsourcing in higher education, online program management (OPM) is not remarkable. Universities regularly, and with little fanfare, outsource many functions that used to be done in-house. Bookstores, dining halls, housing facilities, parking garages, and housekeeping are all part of the outsourcing model in American higher education. This brief is intended to…
State Profiles
State profiles feature key data points, visual infographics, and brief explanations of all 50 states, and are a quick and easy resource for policymakers, analysts and media.