Hope Center’s Policy Summit Pushes to End Student Basic Need Insecurity

“Javier Gomez was living with his grandparents in Portland when he started out at Portland Community College (PCC). But he grew concerned as the housing market increased the rent of the two-bedroom apartment where they lived. ‘I didn’t want to create a strain on my grandparents,’ said Gomez. ‘I was in college. I couldn’t get…

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The ‘sleeper-hit’ beyond $10K: Student loan borrowers say new income-driven repayment plan could be ‘life-changing’

“The day the Biden administration unveiled its highly anticipated student loan forgiveness plan was a ‘celebratory day’ for Justin Short. Short, 34, graduated from the University of Missouri in 2012 with a degree in hospitality management, $47,000 in federal student loans and $5,800 in private student loans. Like many borrowers, his college debt has plagued…

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Higher Learning Advocates and 41 Partners Urge Congress to Increase CCAMPIS Funding

WASHINGTON — Today, Higher Learning Advocates and 40 partner organizations wrote a letter to the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education expressing strong support for increasing funding for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) Program to $500 million— the amount needed to provide roughly 100,000 more parenting college students…

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Higher Learning Advocates Submits Letter on FY 2023 Appropriations

WASHINGTON — Today, Higher Learning Advocates (HLA) submitted a letter outlining our support for key issues as the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education begins the FY 2023 appropriations process. In the letter, HLA urged the subcommittee to consider investments in essential child care, higher education, and campus mental health programs. Read…

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Higher Learning Advocates & 13 Partners Ask ED to Issue Guidance Related to Student Mental Health

WASHINGTON — Today, Higher Learning Advocates and 13 partner organizations submitted a letter to Secretary Cardona, asking the Department of Education to issue guidance to institutions to clarify that mental health supports and services fall under the category of student support services, and therefore can be funded with the institutional portion of HEERF funding. Especially…

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Higher Learning Advocates and 62 Partners Urge Congress to Increase CCAMPIS Funding

WASHINGTON — Today, Higher Learning Advocates and 62 partner organizations sent a letter to Congress to express our strong support for increasing funding for the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) Program to $500 million—the amount needed to provide child care support to approximately 6 percent of Pell-eligible student parents of children ages…

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Higher Learning Advocates Submits Letter on FY 2022 Appropriations

WASHINGTON — Today, Higher Learning Advocates submitted a letter outlining our support for key issues as the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education begins the FY 2022 appropriations process. HLA urged the subcommittee to consider investments in essential child care, higher education, and campus mental health programs. Read the full letter here.

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Low-Income Community College Students Most Likely to Cancel Plans

Julie Peller, executive director of Higher Learning Advocates, said, “It just puts data behind what we all know: lower-income, working adults and student parents are being hit hardest and are needing to make difficult choices to stop or drop out of college during this pandemic in ways that some of their peers are not.” Read…

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