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"Cuts to state funding for higher education in Louisiana rank among the highest in the country since the 2008 recession, according to a revelatory new report by the Center for American Progress, a liberal-leaning public research and advocacy group based in Washington, D.C."

"By contrast, tuition in the United States at both public and private colleges has risen steeply over the past 10 years. Even worse, private for-profit colleges have proliferated around the country, with enrollment growing by 225 percent from 1998 to 2008. These colleges prey on low-income students, leaving many deep in debt, without a degree, and in low-paying jobs that bear little resemblance to the descriptions in for-profit college's recruitment pitches and late night television ads."

"South Dakota has been faced with the challenge of helping Native American and lowincome students succeed in college, but now with $3.6 million in federal funds, six South Dakota universities and a tribal college plan to generate momentum for these students through the South Dakota Jump Start Program."

"You can't learn what you can't see. That's the basic principle behind 'Vision to Learn,' a new campaign in Delaware to give low-income students free eye exams and glasses."

"Big changes are on the way for the Federal Direct PLUS Loan Program (Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students): The U.S. Department of Education is loosening rules for eligibility in a move targeted at making it easier for parents and students to pay for a college education. On Wednesday the department announced and published the final regulations. Among the core adjustments are revised borrower eligibility; a streamlined application for a PLUS Loan, particularly for those with "adverse credit history"; and an updated definition of "adverse credit history," which had not been adjusted since 1994."

"f you want to address income inequality, fix higher education. That seems to be the current thinking in Washington, where President Obama has urged college administrators to better serve low-income students. Some colleges have been following that guidance. The University of Chicago has been praised for its new campaign to recruit low-income students a strategy that reduces the financial paperwork in the admissions process and guarantees low- and middle-income students summer employment while no longer expecting them to work during the academic year."

"Oak Hills High School students are raising awareness about hunger and homelessness, and taking action to help those in need in our community. Students are taking part in several projects this month to learn about hunger issues and homelessness and ways they can help."

"Lincoln Elementary and High School and Mindoro Elementary School each received a Wisconsin School of Recognition award a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction honor that recognizes schools with high poverty rates but exceed achievement benchmarks. Lincoln Elementary and High School each were named 'beating the odds' schools, which are in the top 25 percent of high-poverty schools in the state and have above-average student achievement in reading and mathematics when compared to similar schools."

"A new partnership between Union County College and Kean University will work to bolster the success of Hispanic and low-income students in science, engineering, technology and math, with support from a $3.25 million federal grant. Officials from both schools Monday announced the collaborative effort, which creates a joint-admissions program between the two institutions in hopes of improving retention, graduation and transfer rates for a student population they said is underrepresented in the sciences."

"Today, more people than ever are going to college, yet the nation's overall college graduation rate has remained low. Only 59 percent of students who began as freshmen at a four-year college in the fall of 2006 received their diplomas within six years. Meanwhile, the high school completion rate reached a historic high: In 2012, four out of five students graduated high school within four years. College students who come from low-income backgrounds, such as Kellam, 19, see the least chance of college success. They are less likely to begin college, less likely to finish."

"Schools in the Washington region spend wildly different amounts on students per pupil, and districts vary a lot in how much extra they spend on low-income students. While more spending doesn't guarantee better quality, the discrepancies raise basic questions of fairness."

"In their annual Opportunity Index, the national campaign Opportunity Nation and Measure of America found that high school graduation rates are up, more adults are going to college and unemployment has dropped drastically since 2011. But poverty rates across the board are essentially unchanged since 2011, and nearly 1 in 7 people between the ages of 16 and 24 are considered disconnected youth, in limbo between school and work."