Resources

Higher Learning Advocates’ federal policy resources include the most current data on adult students, parenting students, college affordability, equity, and more. Our work has resulted in positive change for today’s students, including access to discounted broadband for Pell students, the establishment of emergency aid funds, and increased financial aid for parenting students.

Satisfactory Academic Progress: Making Financial Aid Work for Today’s Students

A satisfactory academic progress, or SAP, reset can make college more affordable for low-income Americans, especially the 39 million with some college and no credential (SCNC) population. Higher Learning Advocates’ analyzed how in a new higher education policy brief, Satisfactory Academic Progress: Making Financial Aid Work for Today’s Students. In the brief, we highlight how…
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Updated 101: Today’s Students

Updated 101: Today’s Students

Today’s Students 101 Higher Learning Advocates’ Today’s Students 101 contextualizes who today’s students are and why their needs matter to help inform essential higher education policy conversations. Understanding who today’s students are is fundamental to creating a higher learning system that leads to their success.   HLA’s Updated Today’s Students 101 features: The newest data…
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Braided Funding Backgrounder

Today’s students follow myriad pathways to and through higher learning. Providing today’s students with wraparound supports and tools to navigate complex career pathways systems can greatly boost their chances of success, but requires multiple resources. For students, this means the programs they rely on for career and income mobility have limited sets of resources from…
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Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Backgrounder

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) is a federal provision that requires institutions to establish criteria a student must meet in order to remain eligible for federal student aid, such as Pell Grants and student loans. Typically, to meet SAP requirements, students must meet a minimum grade point average (GPA), or its equivalent, and complete a minimum…
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Today’s Students Returning Adults Factsheet

Adult students make up a growing share of today’s students, including adults returning to school, who are likely to be in their late 20s or 30s.  View the factsheet here.
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SAP Reset Infographic

SAP Reset Infographic

In order to access federal financial aid to pay for higher education, students must meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements, which require credit completion and GPA minimums. For some returning adult students who reenter higher education after a poor academic performance in the past, SAP requirements can be a significant barrier to earning the degree…
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The Playbook for Today’s Students

Higher learning is the ticket to economic opportunity for Americans, as well as to rebuilding our country’s economy. But we are failing too many of today’s students. Fewer than 67% of Americans enter a higher education program, and of those, only 60 percent finish with a credential. A large-scale overhaul of higher education policy is…
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Higher Education Policy & Regulatory Transition Recommendations

WASHINGTON (October 6, 2020) — Higher Learning Advocates provided recommendations to advance higher education policy and regulations in key areas that will empower our nation’s students to obtain the skills they need to gain employment and succeed in the 21st century, especially in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Download the memorandum here.
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State Profiles

State profiles feature key data points, visual infographics, and brief explanations of all 50 states, and are a quick and easy resource for policymakers, analysts and media.

Find Your State