Achieving the Dream

Latest expansion brings initiative to 15 states
Community colleges are the point of entry for large numbers of students who
have been underserved by traditional higher education. Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count , a national initiative to help more community college students succeed, will add 24 new colleges in eight states, bringing the total number to 82 participating institutions in 15 states.

Building community alliances to improve student success
Several Achieving the Dream colleges are reaching out to the larger community
for help in improving student success. Some colleges are working with community members and organizations to improve college programs and increase support
for students.

Affordable college access for undocumented students
Many states have passed supportive legislation for undocumented citizens seeking access to affordable postsecondary education. Now, faced with a growing number of undocumented immigrant students, some states are reassessing their policies. A new policy brief from Achieving the Dream describes policy strategies and progress to provide college access to undocumented citizens.

Making Opportunity Affordable

College cost initiative enters phase II
College degree attainment rates in almost every developed nation are increasing faster than in the United States and rising college costs threaten to close the doors of college opportunity to thousands of prospective students. In 2004,
Lumina Foundation launched an initiative to create a national dialogue on
the rising cost of college. This year, the campaign enters a new phase called Making Opportunity Affordable.

Hitting home: Quality, cost and access
College costs are rising faster than consumer prices. At the same time, a recent study shows that prose literacy among adults with college degrees dropped between 1992 and 2003. Against this backdrop are growing fears that Americans are paying more for higher education and getting less. A new report, Hitting Home: Quality, Cost, and Access Challenges Confronting Higher Education Today, prepared for Making Opportunity Affordable, examines these issues.

KnowHow2GO

Students who aspire to go to college need your help
KnowHow2GO is a college access campaign that encourages low-income and first-generation students to take the steps necessary to go to college. Lumina Foundation partners are reinforcing the KnowHow2Go Ad Council campaign in local communities and in the states. California, Indiana and Ohio are among
the first states to customize the message to reach students.

KnowHow2GO speaks to students first
KnowHow2GO attracted the interest of rap artist Fonzworth Bentley, Morehouse University graduate, who recorded a rap that conveys the campaign message on the radio. In the rap, Bentley plays the role of a student asking for help in preparing for college. Bentley says, "Somebody hit me with the 4-1-1, there are steps to take, there's a job to be done." Listen to this radio ad, which is playing in youth-oriented media markets around the country.

University rankings: Consequences to student access

[ COLLEGE RANKINGS & ACCESS ]

Since higher education rankings first appeared, researchers have debated their methodologies, objectivity, and impact on colleges and universities. The Institute for Higher Education Policy released College and University Ranking Systems: Global Perspectives and American Challenges to acknowledge that while these rankings are becoming more popular and used more frequently, we need greater understanding about how these ranking systems affect college access for the nation's underserved students.

Opening the door to education for immigrants

[ ACCESS FOR IMMIGRANTS ]

An invisible community makes up 12 percent of the U.S. undergraduate population. Opening the Door to the American Dream: Increasing Higher Education Access and Success for Immigrants , by the Institute for Higher Education Policy, exposes the systemic barriers that prevent immigrants from entering and completing college. It also warns that failure to address this issue will significantly threaten the nation's ability to remain globally competitive in less than 10 years.

Thinking Outside the Box

[ STATE POLICY ]

Thinking Outside the Box: Policy Strategies for Readiness, Access and Success, from the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education, challenges policymakers to think practically and creatively about better preparing students for college and work, expanding access to higher education; and helping a much larger share of “access students” succeed in their academic pursuits.