The Power of Dual Enrollment: The Equitable Expansion of College Access and Success

By: Luke Rhine, Deputy Assistant Secretary the Office of Career, Technical & Adult Education Dual enrollment works. The Biden-Harris Administration is deeply committed to the use and expansion of high-quality dual enrollment programs to improve student access to rigorous coursework and equitable postsecondary opportunities. Recently, the Department of Education hosted a webinar featuring a panel of

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New Measures of Postsecondary Education Transfer Performance: Transfer-out rates for community colleges, transfer student graduation rates at four-year colleges, and the institutional dyads contributing to transfer student success

Nathan Sotherland, Kevin Stange, and Jordan Matsudaira The U.S. postsecondary education system provides students with many flexible pathways to earning a bachelor’s degree. One of the most important of these is the opportunity to start a degree at a community college and transfer to a four-year degree program. Community colleges provide access to postsecondary education

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Updated College Scorecard Will Help Students Find High Value Postsecondary Programs

By: Roberto J. Rodríguez, Assistant Secretary, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development We need a system that’s inclusive, that delivers value, and that produces equitable outcomes. We need transparency in data more now than ever before. – Secretary Miguel Cardona The U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard is a free online tool to help

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Career and College Pathways in Action: Top Takeaways from Experts in the Field

By: Amy Loyd, Assistant Secretary for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education Our nation’s future depends upon an educated and skilled workforce—especially as economic mobility is in decline and the world of work is rapidly shifting. The preparation of young people through career and college pathways is a powerful, evidence- and research-based approach

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5 Valuable Financial Tips for College Students

By: Andrew O’Donnell, intern for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid As someone currently attending community college, I can tell you firsthand about many of its benefits. Not only is community college significantly cheaper than four-year institutions and often much closer to home, it’s also a great place to begin your

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What Colleges Should Know About Income Share Agreements and Private Education Loan Requirements

By: Rich Williams, Chief of Staff, Office of Postsecondary Education  Paying for higher education involves more than just completing the FAFSA® form and accepting financial aid. For most students, figuring out how to pay for college is the first major financial decision of their lifetimes—and the stakes could not be higher. A wrong choice can

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White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities Partners with NASA to Foster Innovation and Opportunity for HBCU Scholars

by Arthur McMahan, Senior Associate Director for the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities In 2021, Janine Jackson, an HBCU Scholar from Morgan State University, participated in the Mini Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Innovation Tech Transfer Idea Competition (MITTIC), part of

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New Efforts to Increase Access to Pell Grants for Incarcerated Students

By: Amy Loyd, Acting Assistant Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Strategic Initiatives, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona recently invited students who had attended college-in-prison programs to share their experiences. Their stories were moving; all of the students who attended the virtual roundtable told the Secretary

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Financial Literacy Education and Paying for College

President Biden issued a proclamation deeming April 2021 as National Financial Capability Month. This communication emphasizes the benefits of financial capability, the value of financial literacy, and the importance of access to financial resources. Understanding personal finance topics such as savings, loans, and investments is seldom a straightforward task, especially in the context of paying

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Supporting First-Generation and Low-Income Students Beyond the College Acceptance Letter

Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that pursuing a college education is not just about getting accepted and enrolling in a college. First-generation and low-income college students were burdened with the struggle to pay expensive college fees for a virtual education while being separated from on-campus resources and in-person support from students and

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