Higher education is a pillar of economic security, and New America's higher education team brings intentional and sustained attention to the students, families, and communities that are least well-served by existing educational policies and practices. Students of color, student parents, and low-income and first-generation students continue to fall behind their peers in earning high-quality degrees and being able to repay their student loans. Our team conducts research, analysis, and advocacy to ensure that opportunity is available to all, debt is manageable, education leads to a return on investment, consumers are protected from predatory practices, and industry is held accountable.
Why We Invested
From access to child care to financial aid, a constellation of institutional, state, and federal policies impact the success of student parents as they progress through college and into the workforce. We invested in New America to identify and support a network of champions for student parents that are advancing policy change that can improve the lives and success of adult learners with children where they learn, work and live. Through this partnership, we aim to deepen our understanding of the existing gaps in the field and identify more opportunities for collaboration, so that together, we can remove barriers to student parent success wherever they exist.
New America is dedicated to renewing, reimagining, and realizing the Promise of America in an era of rapid technological and social change. Guiding our work is the vision of a country in which every individual has access to the education, workforce opportunities, wages, and agency they need to achieve their potential over the course of their lives.
Paul E. Butler, President & Chief Transformation Officer, New America