ResearchEd

Did you get a chance to read our Winter 2025 #Newsletter? If not, you can still read it here! 🖇️ buff.ly/r6uMHRV

Getting an associate degree before transfer isn’t always helpful Vertical transfer students remain unguided in how best to achieve the degree outcomes they seek. There are better approaches, including a Transfer Scorecard.

Timing the transfer from #CommunityCollege to a #Bachelors program is more important than we thought. New research shows that each additional year before transfer sharply reduces the likelihood of earning a bachelor’s degree. 🔗 buff.ly/6C3UQtI
Photo by Allison Shelley/Complete College Photo Library

Virtual Intermediaries Convening 2026 This convening will bring together Postsecondary Data Partnership (PDP) intermediary organizations to share strategies, highlight innovations, and explore new ways to leverage data in advancing…

📍 Today’s the day: the FirstGen Forward Virtual Intermediaries Convening is finally here. It’s always energizing to gather with people committed to advancing student success. See you all there!
Info 🔗 www.firstgenforward.org/virtual-inte...

Mapping the Landscape of Degree Apprenticeship: Expanding a Promising Model for Mobility A first-of-its kind overview of the state of degree apprenticeships in the United States, where these opportunities exist, what they look like, and what design elements make these programs strong.

Degree #Apprenticeships are on the rise with the potential to address #workforce shortages in fields like #teaching and #nursing. Research from New America shows that access to programs remains uneven. One challenge to overcome: sustainable funding. 🔗

Preparing Teachers for Rural Wyoming: Voices from the Field In this blog, hear from 3 WY Rural Teacher Corps (RTC) members who completed their student teaching in the fall of 2025 and graduated in December 2025…

Spotlight on the WY Rural Teacher Corps! Hear first-hand from 3 RTC members about their rural teaching experiences.

“Rural to me has changed meaning. It once meant to me the middle of nowhere.… Now, rural means an area where communities have meaning.” - Torin

🔗

First-generation Graduate & Professional Student Symposium The FirstGen Forward Network of over 470 institutions, harnessing the potential of first-generation students and improving success outcomes.

FirstGen Forward is hosting a First-Generation Graduate & Professional Student Symposium virtually!

➡️ The last day to register for free is today:

Getting Started with Dual Enrollment Work-Based Courses: Higher Education Administrators October 23, 2025

Interested in building work-based dual enrollment pathways at your #HigherEducation institution?

Check out the Jobs for the Future #DualEnrollment Roadmap, featuring #HigherEd key milestones and an implementation toolkit with templates. 🔗

Hunger is squeezing California students — and it could get worse Experts say that hunger and economic distress can affect students’ academic performance, or it can determine whether students make the decision to attend — or finish — college.

#Federal cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, and education programs are deepening hardship across #California.

Surveys show that 30% of Californians are cutting back on #food.

Learn about how the #economic #stress is impacting #education and how the state intends to respond 🔗

Reminder that the FirstGen Forward Virtual Intermediaries Convening is coming up on February 12, 2026!

We’re looking forward to hearing real-world impact stories and build connections that strengthen data use and collaboration across institutions.

🖊️ Register here! buff.ly/qp3fFOB

STUDENT VOICE: I’m thriving in my dual-enrollment program, but it could be a whole lot better My experience in dual enrollment has been generally positive, but the program could be even better if high schools and colleges worked together to provide what students say they need most.

A #student in Florida shares her meaningful experience in #DualEnrollment. Yet, #students are intimidated by dual #enrollment because they don’t fully understand the trade‑offs. More needs to be done to provide students with earlier #information & stronger #advising. 🔗

More Rural School Districts Turn to Four-Day Week | The Daily Yonder On Mondays through Thursdays, the campus of the Questa Independent School District in rural Taos County, New Mexico, buzzes with activity. But on Fridays,

#Rural #schools stand firm, preserving the 4-day school week. Local #advocates argue that a 4-day school week is more practical for #students with long travel distances and helps #school #administrators manage tight #budgets. Discover what’s happening in New Mexico 🔗

Youth Apprenticeship in Rural America: Challenges and Opportunities A former youth apprentice analyzes the challanges and benefits of two youth apprenticeship programs in rural areas.

#Rural #youth #apprenticeship programs are transforming student career preparation and proving that rural programs can strengthen local economies. Discover rural apprenticeship success strategies from two case studies🔗 buff.ly/hn0fVIz

#YouthApprenticeship #RuralEducation #CommunityImpact

District Supports for Community Schools: How Systems Can Enable High-Quality Implementation As community schools expand statewide, districts play a critical role in ensuring these efforts thrive. Three California local education agencies have used new investments to strengthen professional…

When districts build system-level supports, community schools can implement high-quality programs that improve student outcomes, like reducing chronic absence. Learn about urban and rural community school networks 🔗 buff.ly/WcFwSi3

#EducationPolicy #CommunitySchools #SchoolTransformation

13 ways to improve higher ed for BIPOC students New research from the Pell Institute finds that, despite challenges and setbacks students of color face in pursuit of a college degree, BIPOC learners see value in higher education. The report offers…

Black, Latino, and Indigenous students overwhelmingly see college as valuable and cite personal growth and confidence as primary benefits. This 2024 study drew on surveys and focus groups from #TRIO programs and highlighted the critical role #research plays in advancing #equity. 🔗

Confessions of an HBCU Grad Attending one of America’s great historically Black colleges and universities changed my life. A new book shows that these institutions remain radically underfunded and academically underestimated.

Despite underfunding, HBCUs have an outsized impact; they’ve produced 80% of Black judges. Learn directly from an #HBCU alumnus' story about the transformative power of HBCUs. 🔗

Intergenerational Student Loan Debt in Georgia: Who it Impacts and How to Mitigate it - Georgia Budget and Policy Institute Table of Contents show Executive Summary Investment in Public Higher Education is Good for All Georgians The Student Loan Debt Crisis in the United States and Georgia Intergenerational Student Loan…

The student loan debt crisis is a racial equity issue. Black students carry 46% of the total debt in the University System of Georgia despite making up only 25% of the student population.

Dig into the full report 🔗 buff.ly/R3DLo8J

#StudentDebt #Equity #HigherEd #StudentLoans #FinancialAid

Black student unions are under pressure – here’s what they do and how they help Black students find community Black student unions date back to the late 1960s, and were formed so Black students could find community, and also make their schools more responsive to their needs.

Black student unions provide essential community and advocacy power for Black students.
Funding cuts to these student unions are threatening their existence and forcing them to find off-campus spaces. 🔗 buff.ly/74vShUH

#HigherEd #BlackCommunity #StudentUnions

This Martin Luther King Day, we want to reflect on what it means to act. An action doesn’t have to be big to be meaningful. What small actions in daily life can help us evolve personally and effect change in our communities?

Alaska Owns Dozens of Deteriorating Schools. Now It Wants Under-Resourced Districts to Take Them On. | The Daily Yonder This story was originally published by ProPublica in collaboration with Anchorage Daily News, KYUK, and NPR’s Station Investigations Team. For more

A state plan to shift ownership of deteriorating buildings to #rural districts will only deepen #educational #inequity, warn local leaders. #Teachers & #Students deserve safe, healthy buildings without having to cut other services. Learn about what’s happening in #Alaska 🔗

Simple Teacher Moves to Improve the Classroom (Opinion) Educators suggest ideas that can easily be incorporated into daily lessons without disrupting the flow of instruction.

Small #teaching shifts can boost #student #engagement. Low-prep activities, like adding movement breaks every 10-15 minutes, have been shown to increase participation.

Learn more 🔗

How Trump 2.0 upended education research and statistics in one year Decades of carefully built infrastructure aimed at improving and tracking how American children learn vanished in an ideological attack

We’re using January to take stock of last year's changes. This article chronicles, month by month, the swift axing of #ED #data and #research.

To know the path ahead, we have to understand the year behind us 🔗 hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

A Road Map for Dual Enrollment Work-Based Courses October 24, 2025

Integrating work-based learning into dual enrollment courses can strengthen hiring outcomes and improve access in #rural contexts. These programs typically have an 80/20 classroom/ worksite split. Get the on how it works from this #Tennessee pilot program 🔗 www.jff.org/idea/a-road-...

Rural Learners Deserve More: Here’s How States Are Stepping Up Across the country, rural learners play a vital role in sustaining local economies, strengthening communities, and shaping the future of their regions. Yet, rural students often face unique…

#Rural #students most commonly cite time constraints, like work and caregiving responsibilities, as the primary barriers to #completing #HigherEducation programs. Learn from two state case studies #strategies that can directly support #rural #student #program #completion 🔗

Workforce Pell: Here are 5 big challenges for implementation Five of 60 workforce programs at Central New Mexico Community College are currently eligible for the Workforce Pell.

#Workforce #Pell offers a promising opportunity to fund short‑term, #job‑focused #training. How will colleges ensure that program #outcomes are clearly defined and can be #tracked across programs?

🔗

Regional average tuition provides an important benchmarking measure for #students and #families.

Since the 2024-25 school year, average #tuition in the Western Region has risen by $466 (4.2%) for undergraduates.

See state by state variation in tuition and fees in the WICHE report🔗 buff.ly/Ael2Jda

Through our engagement maps, we discovered that our work encompasses 1.7 million students enrolled in 306 #postsecondary institutions across 41 states and Puerto Rico! Our maps show the scope of our #advocacy & commitment to #StudentCentered work.🔗 www.research-ed.org

𝟏𝟑𝟎 | 𝐀 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐑𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐱 The Rural Scoop · Episode

Need some #inspiration to get back into the #school year routine? Listen to Beth Benedix’s episode on the Rural Scoop podcast, where she shares insights about #rural assets from her documentary North Putnam.

🔗 YouTube: buff.ly/oITO9De
🔗 Spotify: buff.ly/XmZCHDS

#RuralEducation #RuralLeadership

In Praise of Being First-Gen (opinion) We should not retire the label; we should reclaim and revere it.

#FirstGeneration students act as bridge builders and translators between two worlds. It’s time for #Institutions to switch their lens. Recognize that #FirstGen is a capacity to amplify, not a status to fix.

Read the full Opinion piece by Ed Smith-Lewis 🔗

Community College Bachelor's Degrees Offer Major Cost Savings, But Only in Some States New research reveals CCB students pay 42% less than university peers, though affordability varies widely by location.

#CommunityCollege #Bachelor's programs offer exceptional affordability for high-need, #working #students. How can these programs be scaled to broaden access to #HigherEducation? 🔗 buff.ly/EqclW5R

Happy New Year. With the new year comes renewed purpose. Let’s get to work, together. #NewYears #HigherEducation