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"In a policy climate enamored with technology and distance learning, the Freedom and Citizenship Program at Columbia University stands out for its commitment to books and teachers. For the past six years, low-income, mostly minority, high school students have arrived on Columbia University's campus to take a three-week intensive seminar based on the Columbia College Core Curriculum. These students return to campus throughout the academic year to research a contemporary political issue, such as immigration and prison reform. As Casey Blake, the American studies professor who directs the program explains: 'The goal is not only to introduce the students to the centuries-old debate about the meaning of freedom and citizenship but also to prepare them for lives as active, engaged citizens.'"

"FUEL an acronym for the organization's old name, Families United in Educational Leadership is a Boston-based college savings program that matches within a certain range the amount each family saves for a student's education. But it does much more than that, teaching low-income families many of whom are immigrants how to navigate the higher-education process, from finding the right school to paying for it. Through a series of monthly workshops, the program, which partners with schools and community organizations in Lynn, Chelsea, and Boston, focuses on helping the entire family, not just the student."

"Homeport, a nonprofit housing developer, plans to renovate 59 low-income apartments for seniors and families in Columbus' Short North and the area around Ohio State University this year."

"Bob Kincaid, co-founder of the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Get Veterans Involved (GVI), has found that it's possible to kill two birds with one stone. His nonprofit helps two groups veterans who struggle when they return from service, and elementary school kids in need of mentors at the same time. How is that possible? While veterans train for new jobs or attend college, the organization pays them to visit local elementary schools each week."

"The money will go toward the program's weekly "Stepping Stones" class, which provides educational experiences for children from low-income families with little or no access to prekindergarten opportunities. The grant will also support the scholarship fund which allows these children to take general PRC classes. These classes include music, arts and crafts, science, sports and preschool classes."

"A Chelsea-based retirement senior living and service group is bringing nursing-home level care to elderly residents in Jackson, Lenawee and Hillsdale counties. United Methodist Retirement Communities Inc. announced Wednesday, Jan. 7, plans to create the Cascade Program for All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)."

"The Obama administration recently released a draft framework to help students assess the affordability of colleges and their accessibility to low-income students based, in part, by the number of Pell Grant recipients the institution enrolls. This comes one month after The Morning Call published a story about area colleges and their commitment to access based on Pell Grant eligibility of students."

"Michigan's poorest college students are bearing the brunt of cost increases at some state public universities, decreasing the chances Michigan's most vulnerable students will earn degrees. Over a recent four-year period, six of the state's 15 public universities increased the net cost of attendance for their poorest students those from families earning less than $30,000 a year more than for their wealthier classmates."

"Wealthy individuals and corporations have an opportunity to do good this year while they do well, thanks to a new and little-known tax break. Two laws by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Len provide College Access Tax Credits for contributions to the popular Cal Grants program that helps low-income students. These new tax credits are reserved for contributions to so-called Cal Grant B awards that help pay for books, housing and transportation while students attend community colleges or four-year schools. Contributors in turn can use the credits to reduce their state and federal income tax bills."

"Though the Wichita school district has about 10 percent of the state's public school students, it has nearly a quarter of the state's homeless students. And the number of those students in USD 259 and the state has been soaring. Meanwhile, Gov. Sam Brownback and GOP legislative leaders are hoping to circumvent a court order to increase state funding for K-12 schools."