“This Election Day, exit polling showed that voters’ overwhelming motivations were economic worries. The next Congress has a voter mandate to work with the White House to move quickly to enact policies that will lower costs for families. While lowering daily expenses in the short-term are needed, true economic recovery must also include pat...

Widen the paths to and through higher ed. Chutes and Ladders is a fun game for kids. It’s also a pretty apt allegory for the ups and downs that adults and other nontraditional students encounter as they try to make their way through college. So when it came time for the folks at Higher Learning…

“When Megan Reid graduated from high school in Lenoir County, North Carolina, she had dreams of becoming a scientist. She secured a full ride to East Carolina University, in Greenville, N.C., to study chemistry but had to drop out when she became pregnant with her son, Dylan, now 7. ‘After that, I kind of piddled…

“Policy discussions often position workforce education and traditional college as being in opposition—a zero-sum game where you’re either for degrees and view short-term credentials as a threat, or you think college is broken and should be ditched for apprenticeships or other alternatives. This binary thinking presents a false dilemma, ac...

 “When President Joe Biden announced in August that his administration planned to cancel $10,000 in federal student debt for most borrowers, Allison Daurio felt some relief. Under the White House’s debt forgiveness plan, Daurio , 29 would see about one-quarter of her student loan balance wiped away. But as she read more closely through the...

“When President Joe Biden announced in August that his administration planned to cancel $10,000 in federal student debt for most borrowers, Allison Daurio felt some relief. Under the White House’s debt forgiveness plan, Daurio , 29 would see about one-quarter of her student loan balance wiped away. But as she read more closely through the&h...

“Javier Gomez was living with his grandparents in Portland when he started out at Portland Community College (PCC). But he grew concerned as the housing market increased the rent of the two-bedroom apartment where they lived. ‘I didn’t want to create a strain on my grandparents,’ said Gomez. ‘I was in college. I couldn’t...

“Much of the public focus on President Joe Biden’s loan forgiveness plan has zeroed in on two things: the extension of the federal student loan payment pause until the end of the year and the $10,000 in loan forgiveness to individual borrowers who meet certain income requirements. But for many borrowers, the biggest long-term impact is an...

“The day the Biden administration unveiled its highly anticipated student loan forgiveness plan was a ‘celebratory day’ for Justin Short. Short, 34, graduated from the University of Missouri in 2012 with a degree in hospitality management, $47,000 in federal student loans and $5,800 in private student loans. Like many borrowers, h...

“When President Joe Biden announced his plan on Wednesday to forgive a portion of the federal student loan debt held by millions of Americans, he set off a fiery national argument from just about every corner of the ideological spectrum. ‘An entire generation is now saddled with unsustainable debt,’ Biden said at the White House.&...

WASHINGTON – Veteran higher education policy expert Amy Ellen Duke-Benfield joins Higher Learning Advocates (HLA) this month in the newly-created role of managing director of policy and research. In addition to leading the organization’s strategy and portfolio of policy writing, she will be leading a new initiative to further federal public ben...

“Starting July 16, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline became more easily reachable—simply by dialing 988. With mental health crises burdening so many, this is a welcome step. Robust and effective suicide prevention starts with early intervention through timely and easy access to mental health care. For college students burdened and st...