Category Archives: News

Growing Pathways to Success for ALL Students

A Call to Action featuring Education, Labor, and Commerce Secretaries May 25, 1:30 p.m. ET

By: Amy Loyd, Senior Advisor

This is our moment to truly reimagine education. This is our moment to lift our students, our education system, and our country to a level never before seen. As the great Congressman Lewis said, “If not us, who? If not now, when?”

-Secretary Cardona’s Vision for Education in America (2022)

Imagine a high school in which every single student is energized, excited, and engaged in powerful learning that connects them to their communities, nurtures their career aspirations, and provides them with a head start on college. These students are thriving in rigorous academics, earning several college credits before graduating from high school—including their first college math and English classes, and two classes connected to their possible future careers. These students, along with their families, receive personalized and ongoing career and college advising and navigation supports so that they make informed decisions about the classes they take, the pathways they pursue, and the goals they set for their lives.

Read More

CCAMPIS: Investing in the Futures of Student Parents in Higher Education

By: Michelle Asha Cooper, Ph.D., Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Postsecondary Education

The COVID-19 pandemic proved to all of us just how important access to childcare and early childhood education is not only for children, but for parents and caretakers. I know I felt that tension, personally, as I too juggled childcare responsibilities for my daughter and work at the beginning of the pandemic. Eventually, I was able to enroll her in a universal pre-K program. However, due to pandemic policies, that was only four hours per day, and balancing work, virtual school, and the need for additional childcare was a complicated mix.

Read More

Announcing the Next Generation of Federal Student Loan Servicing

Announcing the next generation of federal student loan servicing

By: Richard Cordray, Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid

Today, I’m pleased to announce that Federal Student Aid (FSA) posted the solicitation for what we’re calling the Unified Servicing and Data Solution (USDS). The USDS is the long-term loan servicing solution designed to provide federal student loan borrowers with a 21st-century customer experience. Building on lessons learned from past loan servicing efforts, FSA and the U.S. Department of Education are committed to holding USDS servicers accountable for a high level of performance and focusing on key objectives like reducing borrower delinquency and default.

Read More

The Power Moves to Retain Teachers Amid the Pandemic

The Power Moves to Retain Teachers Amid the Pandemic

By: Neven Holland, Treadwell Elementary, Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS), Tennessee

“It’s the difficulty that keeps me here. It’s the opportunity to give my students in an underserved neighborhood with limited resources the high-quality teachers they deserve,” says my teacher colleague Armani Alexander. Despite all the difficulties of pandemic teaching, there is still this culture to grit and grind like our hometown Memphis Grizzlies in the profession we love with respect and knowledge of our urban community (Emdin, 2016).

Read More

Fighting Chances

Fighting Chances

By: Damian Archer

As one of the first recipients in Maine of a Pell Grant through the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative, I cherish these opportunities to represent education’s potential for rehabilitating the imprisoned. My education while incarcerated and my release to the “real world” holds perspective which I offer gratefully to provide more insight on this topic. Transitioning back to normal living has had its challenges, but I’m no stranger to life’s obstacles.

Read More

How Schools are Reducing Environmental Impacts, Improving Health, and Cultivating Stewards of Our Planet

Today the U.S. Department of Education named the 2022 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools, District Sustainability Awardees, and Postsecondary Sustainability Awardees. Across the country there are 27 schools, five districts, and four postsecondary institutions that are recognized. These honorees employ innovative practices and policies to reduce environmental impact and utility costs, improve health and wellness, and ensure effective sustainability education.

Read More

Reclaiming my dignity, value, humanity and worth through education

Reclaiming my dignity, value, humanity and worth through education

By: Jessica L. Henry

My name is Jessica Louise Henry. I am a 39-year-old woman born and raised in Detroit. After foster care, juvenile detention centers, teen pregnancy, three rehabs, several therapists, eight jail terms, and two prison bids, my life had become scattered. I have a visual of cards spread haphazardly across the floor with many unanswered “whys” that have piled up throughout my life.  

Read More

5 Valuable Financial Tips for College Students

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 postsecondary education if you’re someone like me who was unsure of a specific program of study to pursue right after graduating from high school. 

Read More

A Legacy of Educators

A Legacy Of Educators

By: Cathy Coachman Wanza

After Emancipation, formerly enslaved people had to make new lives for themselves in a world that was new to them in some respects. For too many of them, their new lives were much like their old: working for next to nothing on someone else’s farm or plantation. Some moved North for better opportunities, but regardless of locale, it became apparent that education was the only way to truly free oneself and ensure subsequent generations of better lives. This mindset became the mantra for many African-Americans in the early to mid-20th Century.

Read More

Federal Student Aid Enforcement Update: Protecting Military-Connected Students

Federal Student Aid Enforcement Update: Protecting Military-Connected Students

By: Kristen Donoghue, Chief Enforcement Officer, U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid

The U.S. government helps service members, veterans, and their family members (i.e., military-connected students) achieve the American dream through higher education, especially with two important benefit programs: (1) the Military Tuition Assistance (TA) program, which supports course work for active duty, National Guard, and Reserve Component service members; and (2) the GI Bill®, which supports post-service course work. These benefits can cover up to 100% of tuition and a living stipend at approximately 5,600 American colleges, universities, and career schools, giving those who served and their families the opportunity to build a better future through education.

Read More

Examples from the Field: How the American Rescue Plan is Helping Schools, Students & Educators Grow Post-Pandemic

This week we are celebrating the 1-year anniversary of the passing of the American Rescue Plan (ARP). The ARP has allowed schools and communities to secure funds to help combat the impacts COVID-19 has had on students, schools, and educators. It has also served as a catalyst for addressing preexisting gaps in the education system.

During the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) National Conference of Education in February we were able to catch up with some our nation’s superintendents whose school districts have directly benefited from ARP Funds. Here’s what they had to say about all the work ARP has allowed them to do for their schools, their teachers, and their students.

Read More