This brief summarizes five key lessons aimed at strengthening the support institutions provide to help students in accessing public benefits and basic needs supports. Insights from the pilot learning engagement highlight the potential and the complexity of outreach efforts to connect eligible students with public benefits. Drawing on practitioner…

State financial aid is a critical piece of college affordability for students from low-income backgrounds. Nearly three quarters of all students attend college in their home state - which is typically a requirement for state-based financial aid - and first-generation and students from low-income backgrounds are even more likely than their peers to…

In the latest addition to the National College Attainment Network's (NCAN) state policy resource library, we present a new report about how to simplify state financial aid programs. While maximum award amounts tend to grab headlines, the fine print can make all the difference in whether students can access and retain state aid. Those most impacted…

This brief studies California's introduction of the Early Assessment Program to bridge the gap between K-12 educational standards and postsecondary education requirements, similar to the Common Core State Standards movement.

Ohio provides need-based aid through a program called the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG), which is essential to helping students from low-income backgrounds attend college. Unfortunately, OCOG excludes over 110,000 community college and regional campus students, who are more likely to come from low-income families. Because of OCOG policy,…

The issues and concerns facing Kentucky Career and Technical Teacher Education (KY CTTE), university teacher educators and state department Career and Technical Education (CTE) leaders in providing and preparing the best CTE teachers possible are not unique to Kentucky. In an effort to better understand these issues and concerns a team of state…

Expanding economic opportunity in Texas depends on our state's ability to increase the college graduation rate for the thousands of college freshmen arriving on campuses each year. The pending budget bills would hamper college access for thousands of Texans through severe cuts to successful financial aid programs, including TEXAS Grants (Towards…

To become more economically competitive and reap the benefits of postsecondary educational levels, Kentucky has set a very ambitious goal to double the number of bachelor's degree holders by 2020. Clearly, increasing the college-going rate of working-age adults is an important strategy in the state's efforts to produce more degree holders. The…

The lines between academic study and career and technical skills training are blurring. State and national leaders are beginning to recognize the transformational potential career and technical education (CTE) offers for such issues as secondary-postsecondary transitions, remediation, and the drop-out problem. At the national level, the National…

Recent increases in tuition levels, accelerated by declining state funding to institutions, have combined with stagnant or falling household incomes to make it more difficult for many college students to finance postsecondary education. In this environment, state grant programs are more important than ever. These funds have the potential to make…

It is a difficult time for policymakers, business leaders, and education leaders to think about ways to increase the numbers of students graduating from high school prepared for college and the work force when their focus is on reducing budgets. But now is the best time to plan for the future. Now is the time to explore programs that may bear…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) is a nonprofit organization that works collaboratively with Louisiana and 15 other member states to improve education at every level--from pre-K to postdoctoral study--through many effective programs and initiatives. SREB's "Challenge to Lead" Goals for Education, which call for the region to…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) is a nonprofit organization that works collaboratively with Maryland and 15 other member states to improve education at every level--from pre-K to postdoctoral study--through many effective programs and initiatives. SREB's "Challenge to Lead" Goals for Education, which call for the region to…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) is a nonprofit organization that works collaboratively with Mississippi and 15 other member states to improve education at every level--from pre-K to postdoctoral study--through many effective programs and initiatives. SREB's "Challenge to Lead" Goals for Education, which call for the region…

The U. S. is losing its competitive edge in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Thomas Friedman warns that America is not producing enough young people in STEM fields that are essential for entrepreneurship and innovation in the 21st century (The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, 2005). Blue ribbon…