Author: Laurie Arnston

Who Gets Pell Grants and Why It Matters

Four in 10 students receive Pell Grants to help fund their college education. A new infographic recently released by the Center for American Progress explores who receives Pell Grants and the role these grants play in higher education for low-income students.

Institutions, Students and Degree Production: Increases Over the Past Decade

ACE’s Center for Policy Research and Strategy has released an updated version its Basic Facts About U.S. Higher Education Today infographic as part of the Higher Education Spotlight series. This analysis examines the diversity of the higher education landscape, student outcomes, and the widespread payoffs of a college education.

Most Students Hold Less Than $30,000 in Debt

ACE’s Center for Policy Research and Strategy has released an updated version its Paying for College infographic as part of the Higher Education Spotlight series. This analysis unpacks information on the cost of college and how students pay for their education. Among the findings: Most undergraduate students have less than $30,000 in cumulative debt.

Seeking Calm in the Middle of an Imperfect Storm

The pace of change in higher education used to be seen  as glacial, slow or barely perceptible. Today it is more akin to a hurricane. Misericordia President Thomas Botzman explains how his institution has navigated this shift.

Bringing “America’s Promise” to Rural Communities in West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia

Tucked in the hills of rural Hardy County, West Virginia lies a small college with a big vision: to breathe life and bring jobs to the Appalachia region. Eastern West Virginia Community & Technical College in Moorefield is one of the latest recipients of a $3.6 million America’s Promise Grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, given through the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission.

Increasing Admission of Low-Income Students in Engineering

A policy brief from University of Michigan’s Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education discusses results from a randomized experiment conducted to determine whether more contextualized information on low-income students’ background and high school would affect the percentage of low-income engineering students admitted.

New Gates Foundation Podcast: Innovation, Equity, and Excellence

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Postsecondary Success team recently released the first episode in its new podcast, To a Degree. Moderated by Casey Green from The Campus Computing Project, the podcast will feature higher education professionals, institutions and organizations discussing various issues related to postsecondary innovation, policy, practice and success.