Unveiling the New TodaysStudents.org

How well do you know today’s students? Their stories may surprise you. Over the past few months, we’ve been reaching out to students and collecting stories that showcase just a few of the incredible individuals who are balancing family, career, finances, and education. At the newly-revamped TodaysStudents.org, you can listen to first-hand stories from student parents, veterans, working…

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Hearing Student Voice: Why Telling the Story Matters in Federal Policy

One of the challenges holding back federal policy is the disconnect between the experiences of today’s students and the conventional wisdom around what college is like. Too often, myths and misconceptions take root that contradict student realities. For example, we tend to think of students as 18-22 year-olds hanging out on the quad, studying in…

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It’s Time for a Real Definition of Student Success

I work for a 16,000-member association that, like many other higher education organizations, has a goal of helping all students succeed. In fact, I think the words “student success”, particularly for undergraduate students, may finally be popular enough to surpass “big data”, which are two words that I think have permeated nearly every institution over…

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Today’s Students and the Evolving Equity Movement in Higher Education

Family celebrating with Grad

The march toward equity has been, for nearly a century, a hallmark in the history of American education. The movement gained nationwide momentum with the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision at the Supreme Court, which found school segregation unconstitutional and established full and equal access to public education as protected under the Constitution.…

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FAFSA Verification Melt is Trending for All The Wrong Reasons

FASA Logo cursor clicking for student grants

Nearly half of low-income students who are accepted to college never show up for the first day of classes. Bogged down by the complex and paperwork-intensive financial aid process, would-be enrollees simply drop out before they start. At a federal level, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has become an easy scapegoat when…

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Student Voice: A First-Generation Advocate for Equity in Education

Artistic Image of man drinking from coffee cup

Editor’s Note: Moises Mendoza is a rising senior at Williams College where he is majoring in Political Science, and English, while also fulfilling a Latinx Studies concentration. A first-generation college student from Minnesota, Moises serves as the current co-President of the student government, which allows him to see close up how a college operates and learn…

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Broadening Pathways and Partnerships: Comparing the PROSPER Act and Aim Higher Act

How would the Aim Higher Act and the PROSPER Act affect alternative pathways and partnerships? On July 24, 2018, Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-Va.) of the U.S. House Committee on Education & the Workforce introduced the Aim Higher Act, a bill to reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). The Democratic proposal follows the December…

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Reclaiming Degrees, Restoring Opportunity: A Student-Centric Policy Idea

Three Students Graduation

Good policy creates the conditions in which all people and communities can thrive. Good higher education policy creates the conditions that help all hardworking students succeed, regardless of race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status. Put simply, good higher education policy puts students first. These policies include investments in targeted need-based aid, supports for working students and…

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Parent, Provider, Employee and Student: Making it All Work

Editor’s Note: This article is an expanded story based on John Englehart’s video submission to Voices of Today’s Students,  a national campaign to educate policymakers about the demographic shift and experiences of the modern higher learning student, highlight their needs, and discuss policy barriers and solutions to increasing student success. My story as a non-traditional…

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Changing Higher Education Means Changing the Dialogue

Credit: NASA/GSFC Too much of the debate over higher education has devolved into whether “college is worth it.”  That conversation misses a key fact: higher learning is no longer bound by quads and ivy and the traditions of the past. The landscape for learning and opportunity beyond high school is vast and growing, with millions…

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