May 2008

Pathways to College Network Provides Media Training for Spokespersons
Recently, Pathways enlisted its communications consultant, Douglas Gould and Co., to provide media training to eighteen partner organization representatives and Pathways staff. The day-long event was held at the College Board offices in Washington, D.C. and highlighted multiple aspects of handling television, radio and print media contacts. Douglas Gould provided insight into how best to present information to these outlets, so that the intended audience receives clear key messages as well as the passion of Pathways spokespeople.

New Resources Added to the College Planning Resources Directory
The Pathways to College Network has added almost 30 new resources to the College Planning Resources Directory (CPRD). New resources include information about scholarship searches, financial literacy, career planning, and the college admissions process. The CPRD also includes a link to the College Navigator, developed by the U.S. Department of Education, which is also now available in Spanish. This website is a tool for students, parents, and counselors that provides information about the nearly 7,000 postsecondary institutions in the U.S.
http://www.pathwaystocollege.net/collegeplanningresources

On May 13, 2008, Ann Coles, Senior Advisor for College Access Programs at TERI, was a panelist at an invitational conference sponsored by the National Governors Association and supported by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. The panel discussed how states and the federal government can simplify and improve the financial aid process for community college students.

New Enhancements in Progress for the State Policy Inventory Database Online (SPIDO)
With support from the Pathways to College Network and Jobs for the Future, the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE) is in the process of modernizing the nation’s only online searchable database of higher education policies to make it more useful and maneuverable. SPIDO already includes hyperlinks that take users directly to state statutes and board policies in 12 policy domains – accelerated learning options, adult learners, articulation and alignment, data and accountability systems, early outreach programs, equity issues, remediation, residency, retention, student financial aid and other assistance, teacher quality initiatives, and tuition and fees. Over the next few months, SPIDO will adopt a new look, incorporate blogging capabilities, add links to current policy publications, incorporate video instructional applications, and adopt other useful resources. Demi Michaelau, Senior Policy Analyst and Director of Special Projects in WICHE's Public Policy and Research unit, manages the SPIDO site.
http://www.wiche.edu/Policy/SPIDO/index.asp

Upcoming Conferences
The National Association of State Financial Aid Administrators' annual national conference will take place this year in Orlando, Florida at the Walt Disney World Resort. The conference runs from July 6 – 9, 2008, offering a wealth of information on financial aid and college access issues. See the conference website at http://www.nasfaa.org/Subhomes/AnnualConference2008/registration.html for registration information.

The Pell Institute's Student Financial Aid Research Network's annual conference will be June 12-14, 2008 at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland. For conference information, go to: http://www.pellinstitute.org/conference_SFARN.html.

The Education Commission of the States is holding its annual National Forum on Education Policy this year at the Renaissance Austin Hotel from June 30 – July 2, 2008 in Austin, Texas. For more information, go to http://www.ecs.org/html/meetingsEvents/NF2008/NF2008_main.asp.

Transitions to Adulthood for Homeless Adolescents: Education and Public Policy
This new report from the Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis, through comprehensive interviewing with homeless youth aged 14-19 and shelter staff, defines the typologies of homeless youth, and looks at the specific challenges faced by these students. The report explores existing legislation and policy concerning this population, specifically the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which sets basic guidelines for schools to follow to provide these students with the means to continue their education. The report also suggests strategies beyond those required by the McKinney-Vento Act for states and districts to adopt.
[Read the report]

Denied: Community College Students Lack Access to Affordable Loans
A new brief from The Project on Student Debt explores the fact that a number of community colleges do not participate in the federal loan program, and thus 10 percent of community college students cannot get federal student loans. This situation may cause students to seek riskier and more expensive forms of debt, including credit cards and private student loans. Reasons cited by non-participating colleges included concern that students might default on their loans, which might cause an institution to lose access to Pell Grants. A second reason given by institutions is that they believe that students should not borrow for a community college education. The brief offers recommendations for action by the Department of Education and institutions that do not participate in federal loan programs.
[Read the brief]

Graduation Rate Watch: Making Minority Student Success a Priority
Education Sector draws on federal data to identify universities with small or nonexistent gaps between the graduation rates of white students and black students and discusses how these institutions have achieved success. In addition to 94 institutions that have reached graduation rate parity, researchers found Historically Black Colleges and Universities that have improved graduation rates for black students. The report contains a comprehensive list of universities with unusually large graduation gaps—those with disparities that are often 20 percentage points or more. It provides recommendations for how policymakers can provide better incentives for institutions to close these gaps and give minority students the resources they need to earn a college degree.
[Read the report]

Partnerships for Public Purposes: Engaging Higher Education in Societal Challenges of the 21st Century
This essay from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education concludes that colleges and universities have become preoccupied with advancing their prestige instead of achieving publicly-defined purposes, and calls for the restoration of a greater sense of public purpose to learning in ways that directly meet the country's educational needs for the 21^st century.
[Read the essay]

Window of Opportunity: Targeting Federal Grant Aid to Students with the Lowest Incomes
Window of Opportunity, a report prepared by the Institute for Higher Education Policy for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities with support from Lumina Foundation for Education, discusses the ability of specific policy options in strengthening the Pell grant program to meet the significant financial needs of low-income students. The policy options examined are (1) raising the appropriated maximum Pell grant award; (2) raising both the minimum and appropriated maximum Pell and grant awards, and (3) adjusting federal need analysis to allow for a negative expected family contribution. The report also reviews the original goals of the Pell Grant program and looks at the experiences of Pell recipients enrolling in and paying for college.
[Read the report]

Second to None in Attainment, Discovery, and Innovation: The National Agenda for Higher Education
The State Higher Education Executive Officers issued a white paper for presidential candidates. Arguing that the next President will have the “greatest opportunity—and face the greatest necessity—since the 1950s to lead the nation to sustainable prosperity,” the paper lays out two goals:

1. Second to None in Educational Attainment: One million more degrees and certificates per year. The authors propose that the fastest and most effective way to reach this goal is “to focus policies and resources on the students who are not now succeeding in our colleges and universities”—generally low-income, first-generation, or working adults of all ethnic groups.
2. Second to None in Discovery and Innovation: World leader in science, technology, and the advancement of knowledge. This goal requires deeper federal investments in science and technology.

The paper cites three areas that need urgent attention: re-engineering student assistance, improving data and quality assurance systems, and sustaining and advancing discovery and innovation.
[Read the white paper]

Adult Learning in Focus: National and State-by-State Data
A new report from the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning examines how well states are doing on meeting the educational needs of their adult populations and finds that states vary on this measure. The report emphasizses that states and the nation cannot match educational attainment levels, or meet continued global competitiveness, by concentrating on traditional-age students alone. A web site constructed with the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems contains individual state profiles with key indicators of success in serving adult students. To see the website, go to: http://www.cael.org/adultlearninginfocus.htm
[Read the report]