My First-Gen Story: Navigating the College Experience and FAFSA
Editor’s Note: In this video narrative, University of Michigan graduate student and Georgetown University graduate Aya Waller-Bey discusses her experience as a first-generation student and navigating the federal student aid application process. This story is Aya-Waller-Bey’s video submission to Voices of Today’s Students, a national campaign to educate policymakers about the demographic shift and experiences of the modern higher learning…
Read MoreElevating First-Gen Student Success
Sarah Whitley is the Senior Director of the Center for First-generation Student Success, an initiative between NASPA and The Suder Foundation, a small family foundation created by Eric and Deb Suder. Eric, a first-generation college graduate, was contributing to scholarship funds at universities around first-gen initiatives and found that first-gen students still weren’t graduating. The…
Read MoreBreaking the Cycle through College Access: A Foster Youth Story
When I was eight years old, I became a ward of the court, joining 600,000 other children in the foster care system. Over the next few years, I lived in several foster homes and attended six different schools. Fortunately, I was a good student and I graduated knowing I wanted to go to college. But…
Read MoreHigher Education Act Reauthorization at 10: More Innovations Since 2008
What a difference ten years makes. Over ten years ago, on August 14, 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act, the last comprehensive reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA). The world has changed a lot since then. In 2008, Facebook hadn’t rolled out its “Like” button, Netflix…
Read MoreToday’s Students and the Evolving Equity Movement in Higher Education
The march toward equity has been, for nearly a century, a hallmark in the history of American education. The movement gained nationwide momentum with the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision at the Supreme Court, which found school segregation unconstitutional and established full and equal access to public education as protected under the Constitution.…
Read MoreFAFSA Verification Melt is Trending for All The Wrong Reasons
Nearly half of low-income students who are accepted to college never show up for the first day of classes. Bogged down by the complex and paperwork-intensive financial aid process, would-be enrollees simply drop out before they start. At a federal level, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has become an easy scapegoat when…
Read More