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…

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Today’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…

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Increased 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…

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GAO 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…

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The 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…

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HLA and More Than 70 Organizations, Individuals Urge Congress to Extend the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in the Next Appropriations Legislation

photo of college student using laptop for online learning at home

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…

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Using Financial Aid Data to Help Students Meet Basic Needs

student looking in the refrigerator at the grocery store

A growing body of research has shown that student persistence and college completion are strongly connected to and determined by whether students’ basic needs are being met. But college administrators are hamstrung by insufficient funding to fully address basic needs insecurity on their campuses and help students in a comprehensive way. A new policy brief by Higher Learning Advocates (HLA),…

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Idaho Scholarship Program a Boon for Students and State

Idaho on U.S. map

A new workforce development scholarship program in Idaho is generating more interest than originally projected, and state officials say the response reflects the demand for education and training needed to fill jobs in the region and an opportunity to get and keep young people employed in the state. The LAUNCH program offers Idaho high school graduates, or those…

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Bipartisan Progress on Pell Grant Expansion, but Hurdles Remain

photo of capitol hill in DC

As Congress gears up to head home for the holiday season, proponents who have hoped to see a breakthrough on the long-running issue of expanding Pell Grants to career-training programs lasting fewer than 15 weeks have received an early gift—a bipartisan deal in the House. Key lawmakers in both parties have wrangled for years over the expansion,…

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Declare Yourself Independent for Financial Aid

aerial view of college student working on computer

Before filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, applicants must first determine their dependency status – which dictates whose information needs to be submitted on the form. An undergraduate student can’t simply choose to file as an independent on the FAFSA, the application that most schools use to determine financial aid awards. They…

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