Embedding Equity within Indiana’s Educational Attainment Goals

HLA Insights and Outlooks Embedding Equity within Indiana's educational attainment goals Commissioner Teresa Lubbers

In early 2020, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education released its fourth strategic plan, Reaching Higher in a State of Change, which provides a vision and a blueprint focused on pathways for student success from the recent high school graduate to the returning adult—ensuring greater economic opportunity and a stronger Indiana. The Commission identified three…

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A Second Chance at Higher Education

HLA Insights and Outlooks A second chance at higher education Cordero Holmes

Growing up in a low socioeconomic area in Phoenix, Arizona, surrounded by gangs, violence, and drugs, I never thought that college was a place for me. Instead, as a teen, I envisioned myself selling drugs, robbing people, and spending most of my days in prison. So when I was 20 years old and was sentenced…

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Rethinking PLA: The Urgency of Counting Prior Learning

As the country works toward economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are at least 10 million unemployed Americans, many of whom are looking to higher education as a pathway to their next career step. Now more than ever, adult learners are keenly aware of the return of investment they receive from…

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Time to Innovate: How We Can Harness an Unprecedented Moment in Higher Education to Better Serve Student Parents

mother with daughter on lap working on computer at the kitchen table

Before the COVID-19 pandemic upturned how all of us work and learn, nearly four million student parents—more than a fifth of the entire U.S. undergraduate student population—faced near-impossible demands on their time and resources as they worked to juggle school and child care. Life before the pandemic was not working for most student parents.  To…

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The Way Forward in Higher Education

Six months ago, St. Petersburg College operated quite differently. Our ten campuses and learning sites were bustling with students hurrying from classroom to classroom while faculty prepared for vast numbers of in-person lectures and labs. COVID-19 and tragic occurrences of racial injustice have changed everything. Not only for us, but for people and institutions around…

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Q&A with Commissioner Kim Hunter Reed, Louisiana Board of Regents

A Q&A with Commissioner Kim Hunter Reed of the Louisiana Board of Regents. 1. This is, of course, an unusual school year. What does the fall look like for colleges and universities in Louisiana? This academic year will be one of the most challenging we have ever faced—with a global pandemic, racial unrest, and significant…

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Q&A with President Lyle Roelofs of Berea College

Class of 2020 grads hugging

Berea College, the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, focuses on learning, labor and service. The College admits only academically promising students with limited financial resources, primarily from Kentucky and Appalachia, although students come from 40 states and 70 countries. Every Berea student receives a Tuition Promise Scholarship, which means no Berea student…

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A Fall Like No Other

Whether one is returning to college or entering college for the first time, Fall of 2020 is clearly a fall semester like no other. While higher education institutions (HEIs) have been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic since the Spring 2020 semester, what occurs at these institutions this fall will be highly scrutinized and analyzed. Important…

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