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.

What Works for Today’s Students: Connecting Students to Means-Tested Benefits

What Works for Today’s Students: Connecting Students to Means-Tested Benefits

Students facing basic needs insecurities are significantly less likely to leave college without completing an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. Today’s students show a great deal of resilience in the face of adversity—but succeeding in an academic environment is extremely difficult without access to basic needs, like food and shelter. The federal government has various programs…
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101: Students & Means Tested Programs

Every year, more than one million students drop out—70 percent do so because of financial insecurity, which is disproportionately felt by low-income students. That’s where means-tested benefit programs and income supports can help. Means-tested federal and state programs help millions of low-income Americans access housing, food, health care, child care, and more. But the myriad…
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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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Online Program Managers (OPMs) Backgrounder

Online program management (OPM) entities are service providers that work through contracts with colleges and universities to take academic programs online. While most OPMs are for-profit, some are nonprofit. Typically, colleges and universities that utilize OPMs seek to expand access to college courses that they cannot financially or practically offer via a traditional physical environment,…
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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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Policy Toolkit 3.0

Policy Toolkit 3.0

Today’s students are more diverse than any previous generation of college students: they’re diverse in age, race, and income level. They’re more mobile and may not live on campus. Most participate in the workforce, either full-time or part-time. Work and family responsibilities beyond the classroom—whether that is on-campus or online—often compete with the educational goals…
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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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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