Columbia may look whiter and wealthier next year. Here’s why.

Julie Peller, executive director of Higher Learning Advocates, told the Hechinger Report that the FAFSA application is often the first step students take when applying to college. FAFSA applications are strong predictors of student enrollment, particularly for low-income students who depend on the FAFSA to pay for college. Read the full piece here. 

Read More

Executive Director Julie Peller and Higher Learning Advocates’ Board Members Urge Congress to Support Students’ Immediate Needs

WASHINGTON — Executive Director Julie Peller and Higher Learning Advocates’ Board of Directors wrote to Congress to highlight the immediate needs of today’s students and to share HLA’s Playbook for Today’s Students. The Playbook, published yesterday, highlights already introduced legislation that would help widen the path to and through higher learning for all students. Read…

Read More

AM in the AM

Executive Director Julie Peller spoke with KMAland Broadcasting about higher education during the pandemic. Listen here.

Read More

Higher Learning Advocates & Forty-Six Partner Organizations Urge Congress to Support Student Parents

WASHINGTON — Forty-seven organizations came together today to urge Congress to provide more supports for student parents, particularly in the face of the pandemic. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, many students struggled to cover the costs of food, housing, transportation, and child care. These needs are heightened for student parents, who must provide for their…

Read More

The Gap Year Fantasy and the Reality of Today’s College Student

Higher Learning Advocates, a D.C.-based advocacy group, says that today’s students are older, more racially diverse, and have far fewer life options than the mainstream narrative would lead us to believe. Only 13% of college students live on campus, and two-thirds of all students work in order to make tuition payments or other expenses. Two in five…

Read More

Emergency aid needed for fall semester students

Executive Director Julie Peller joined CBS19 News to discuss how federal funding can help today’s students, who have been hit hard by the pandemic. “Being sure that students are a part of that conversation and students’ needs outside of the classroom are a part of that conversation is something that we’re fighting for this fall.”…

Read More

Today’s Adult Students

The image of today’s students no longer fits the image from decades ago. Today’s students aren’t just fresh-faced 18-year-old teenagers who recently graduated from high school. In fact, 37 percent of today’s students are older than 25. Many adult students have different responsibilities—including work and family—on their path to a degree or credential. Sixty-four percent…

Read More