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Topic: Access to higher education

Blog Post
September 5, 2023

Parental Income, State Funding, and Access to Higher Education

Questions about who gets into America’s most prestigious colleges and why have been at the center of American discourse recently. In June, the Supreme Court struck down the use of race-conscious admissions practices in higher education. And soon after the Court’s decision, a federal civil rights complaint was filed against Harvard University for its use of legacy admissions, which disproportionately benefits white, affluent students. New research by Opportunity Insights adds to the conversation with a robust…
Past Event
October 12, 2023

The American Prison, a Site of Digital Exclusion

Digital Inclusion Research Forum

Mass incarceration impacts millions of Americans and its toll on families and communities of color is exacerbated by the digital exclusion of people in prison. When the digital divide is the prison wall, there are special challenges in conducting research that might inform effective interventions. Nonetheless, highlighting existing research and the opportunities for advancing digital inclusion at this critical moment has the potential to unlock opportunity for people in prison nationwide.  At a session at the…
Past Event
August 23, 2023

Education Technology in Prison Programs

Survey Finding & Building the Technology Ecosystem

Technological solutions to support and enhance correctional education have been a growing area of interest over the past several years. A series of major “shocks to the system,” such as COVID, staffing shortages, and soon, the restoration of Pell grants, has only accelerated questions about technology, its implementation, and proper role in supporting education. To help answer these questions, a session at the Correctional Education Association Conference, led by representatives from RTI and Ithaka S+R, will present recent research…
Blog Post
July 26, 2023

Disability, Accessibility, and Higher Education in Prisons

Earlier this month, the FAFSA Simplification Act restored federal Pell grant funding for students who are incarcerated in US prisons. This has driven excitement about higher education in prisons, with pieces celebrating the revised policy in Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle of Higher Education. While this is unequivocally good news, it is important to understand that full Pell reinstatement is propelling, and arriving amidst, rapid change in higher education in prisons,…
Blog Post
July 6, 2023

CUNY and Ithaka S+R Launch New Functionality in CUNY Transfer Explorer

Enhancements to CUNY Transfer Explorer (CUNY T-Rex) empower students to explore paths to degree completion with transparent and accessible information

In January 2023, the ACT team and CUNY introduced several new features on CUNY T-Rex, which included a refreshed homepage, a student portal for CUNY students to access their transcript and explore how their courses are applied across CUNY colleges, and functionality to let users explore how course credits (from both CUNY and non-CUNY institutions) and CPL apply at various CUNY colleges and to major and minor requirements. Today, we are pleased to announce the launch of additional, new features…
Past Event
November 9, 2023

Increasing Adult Learner Enrollment and Resolving Stranded Credits

“Stranded credits” are credits that students have earned but can’t access because their former institution is holding their transcript as collateral for an unpaid balance to the institution. Ninety-five percent of institutions withhold transcripts when students have a balance, and Ithaka S+R estimates that 6.6 million students nationally have stranded credits. Like student loan debt, stranded credits are inequitably distributed: institutions with higher shares of students of color and Pell-eligible students are estimated to have more former students…
Past Event
July 12, 2023

NISTS Award Winner Spotlight

AACRAO Technology & Transfer Virtual Summit

Join a AACRAO Technology and Transfer Virtual Summit session honoring this year’s Bonita C. Jacobs Transfer Champion-Rising Star Award winners, including Ithaka S+R’s Emily Tichenor. Learn about their journeys as transfer agents, connectors, and advocates, how they’ve overcome challenges to find success, and their top tips and strategies for influencing change. Both seasoned professionals and newcomers to the transfer community will walk away with valuable insights and practical takeaways for creating and sustaining transfer-focused policies, programs, and supports. This…
Blog Post
June 5, 2023

Humanizing Language in Policy

This is the third and final entry in a series of blog posts reflecting on findings from our recent report on state media review directives, Security and Censorship. The first blog post announced the report publication, offered key findings, and emphasized how the research connects to broader debates about education, censorship, and policy. The second blog post zoomed in on the report recommendations and model policy, highlighting aspects of the report that may be of most interest…
Past Event
May 24, 2023

The Role of Technical Assistant Providers in Higher Education in Prison

On May 24-25, Ithaka S+R’s Managing Director, Catharine Bond Hill, and Senior Program Manager for Justice Initiatives, Kurtis Tanaka, took part in a summit in Nashville, hosted by the Alliance for Higher Education in Prisons with support from Ascendium Education Group, on the role of technical assistance (TA) providers in the field of higher education in prisons (HEP). With the restoration of Pell grants for incarcerated students right around the corner, there is urgent need to convene intermediaries to discuss…
Past Event
June 14, 2023

The Chair’s Role in Enrollment, Retention, and Student Success

At 11 am on June 14, 2023, Martin Kurzweil will moderate a panel on “The Chair’s Role in Enrollment, Retention, and Student Success,” hosted by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Featuring conversation with panelist Allison Calhoun-Brown, the 75-minute session will explore how and why department chairs should recruit students and put in place systems that support them to remain enrolled and on track, and to complete their degrees. Register here.
Past Event
June 13, 2023

National Trends in Higher Education

At 11 am on June 13, 2023, Martin Kurzweil will participate in a session on national trends in higher education, hosted by the Chronicle of Higher Education. The 75-minute session will focus on key trends in higher education and its economic and policy context, moderated by current department chair Manya Whitaker. Register to attend.
Blog Post
May 31, 2023

Advancing Student Success through Academic Equity Topical Research Projects

Research Reports by ATI Honorarium Awardees George Mason University, Marist College, and Muhlenberg College

Student success and equity are intrinsically linked. Students from lower-income, first-generation, and historically underserved backgrounds face deeply entrenched systemic inequities and a myriad of obstacles both on college campuses and beyond. To help address these challenges, with funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Gray Foundation, three American Talent Initiative members each received a $7,250 honorarium to tackle research on key topics of academic equity.
Past Event
July 19, 2023

Addressing Return on Investment in Higher Education

Students and the general public are increasingly interested in whether higher education is worth the cost. While it is important to showcase the value of higher education beyond individual economic benefits, we must also directly respond to the growing skepticism of higher education’s cost and economic benefits. One clear way to showcase the extent to which higher education is a worthwhile investment is to measure a student’s return on investment (ROI) from their degree or credential. In this session, a…
Past Event
May 18, 2023

Martin Kurzweil at (Re)Engage Alabama

On May 18, Martin Kurzweil and Kent State University’s Chris Dorsten will talk about stranded credits and the Ohio College Comeback Compact at the (Re)Engage Alabama Convening in Montgomery, Alabama.
Past Event
August 7, 2023

Bans, Compacts, and Collections… Oh My! State Approaches to Addressing Stranded Credits

Institutions and states are facing increasing pressures to stop the practice of withholding student transcripts for failure to pay balances in full. In fact, over half of states have enacted or considered policies on this issue over the past several years. The Department of Education and the CFPB have also weighed in with guidance and new policies. In this session at the 2023 SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference, leaders from three states that have taken unique approaches to addressing…
Past Event
July 11, 2023

CUNY Transfer Explorer

A Cross-Organizational Effort to Promote Credit Transparency

In May 2020, the Articulation of Credit Transfer (ACT) team, a collaboration between Ithaka S+R and the City University of New York (CUNY), introduced CUNY Transfer Explorer, an online, public tool which allows anyone to see how courses at one college are treated at any other college in the CUNY system upon transfer. At a presentation at AACRAO’s Technology and Virtual Summit on July 11 at 4 pm ET, CUNY Lehman’s Juan Villalona, ITHAKA’s Maddie Danks and Jessica…
Blog Post
April 20, 2023

Media Review Directive Model Policy

In Security and Censorship: A Comparative Analysis of State Department of Corrections Media Review Policies, we examined media review directives from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, analyzing common policies, procedures, and language across these documents. Based on this analysis, we recommend a series of changes to media review directives and related policy. We believe that the suggested changes will benefit departments of corrections (DOC) by streamlining procedures and improving communication with people who are incarcerated. The…
Blog Post
April 20, 2023

Education, Information, and Security

Key Findings and Context from New Report on Prison Media Review Policies

With federal Pell grant funding set to resume for college students in prison, higher education in prison programs sit at a critical juncture. As students in prison gain access to additional educational programming, how can we ensure that the courses and curricula they receive are comparable to offerings on the outside? One necessary step is to ensure that the same quality course materials and readings are available. Under the current media review policies of many departments of corrections (DOC), we…
Research Report
April 20, 2023

Security and Censorship

A Comparative Analysis of State Department of Corrections Media Review Policies

Despite resurgent public interest in censorship issues, research and reporting on prison censorship policies remain largely localized, with few wide-scale studies of the issue. The highly decentralized nature of the carceral system in the United States complicate such an undertaking. In an effort to make available policy information more accessible and to develop a sense of how censorship policies might impact higher education in prisons, Ithaka S+R examined media review directives across all 50 states and Washington DC.
Blog Post
March 28, 2023

Rural Student Conferences Recap

From Small Town to Campus and Roadmaps to Rural Student Success

In February I attended two virtual conferences—From Small Town to Campus (February 10-11) and Roadmaps to Rural Student Success (February 23-24)—both centering on the experiences of rural students pursuing and obtaining higher education degrees. A bevy of speakers and attendees shared personal experiences about growing up rural or working with students from rural backgrounds. As these talented individuals spoke on the advantages and challenges associated with rural student success, a number of themes emerged, not only across sessions,…