Today’s Students Coalition

We’re relaunching the More Pathways, Less Ladders campaign — and we need you with us. 🔥

In a transformative era for America’s higher education system, experts, institutions, and advocates know if we want postsecondary education to truly be future-ready, we need to focus on creating pathways and fix policies that penalize learners.

TSC’s More Pathways, Less Ladders toolkit covers four urgent shifts we need to build a system ready to evolve with the needs of modern learners that works for more people throughout their lives.

It’s the higher education system we all deserve.

Join us throughout April. Use the customizable content from the toolkit, your own research or reflections, like, share or tag Today’s Students Coalition for a repost!

🔗 TOOLKIT: https://socialpresskit.com/todaysstudentscoalition -pathways-less-ladders

How Hill day feels after two full days of legislative training 🤩

Longworth, Cannon, Rayburn, Hart, Dirksen, Russell

IYKYK

And if you don’t, come to a DC Student Summit.

After two full days of workshops, we’re heading to the Hill tomorrow.

📉 🚨 No matter the funding deficit, people will always need Pell. It’s one of the country’s most important federal financial aid programs for students with low incomes to afford college.

As Congress confronts Pell’s projected shortfall, TSC and our partners will continue to speak out for (1) a significant increase in the maximum Pell Grant award and (2) against any cuts to annual or lifetime eligibility.

💡 For recipients, Pell is more than tuition support. The grant also functions as essential support for students’ basic living needs, including food, housing, transportation, and other costs that, when unmet, can prevent students from enrolling, persisting, or completing a credential.

Protecting Pell will always be one of our top policy priorities for today’s students.

�https://todaysstudents.org/wp-content/uploads/FY26-TSC-Approps-Request-Letter.docx.pdf

Buy food ⇄ buy medicine?

🩺💰 As Medicaid cuts set in, medical emergencies and health care expenses pose serious threats to the educational pursuits of American learners.

History has shown that when federal funding for Medicaid is slashed, states shift funding away from higher education, resulting in higher costs to students.

Medical bills are only one financial hardship that emergency aid grants have helped alleviate for today’s students.

As the cost of postsecondary education continues to rise, federal policymakers should develop and support policies that ensure students can stay enrolled, earn a postsecondary credential, and become strong contributors to the American workforce.

Learn more about the importance of creating a permanent emergency fund for today’s learners.

🔗 https://bit.ly/CollegeEmergencyAid

💻 📢 👉 TOMORROW — Basic Needs in Higher Education — Join us for an expert-led panel on 📌 Wednesday, February 18 at 1 p.m. EST. 📌

🔗 Register here: https://bit.ly/TSCbasicneedswebinar

We’re speaking out about how the most basic needs become the most critical barriers to student success and how we can cultivate a culture of basic needs-secure campuses nationwide.

Panelists will discuss effective student retention, persistence, and completion efforts focused on strengthening access to food, housing, health care, child care, and emergency aid.

This event is being held as part of TSC’s campaign.

🔗 https://socialpresskit.com/todaysstudentscoalition -needed-this

Approximately 23% of community college students and 22% of students enrolled at public four-year institutions are food insecure according to federal data.

Both rates were more than double the food insecurity rate among all U.S. households.

When students don't have enough to eat, they are faced with the difficult choice between two options: affording food or college. Updates to SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) rules can help.

Meeting the basic needs of today’s students is an increasing area of focus for colleges and universities and for policymakers. While many innovations to meet students’ basic needs are occurring at the institutional level, states are laying a roadmap for basic needs leadership.

TSC’s landscape analysis covers basic needs policy and strategies across 37 states. The more we understand, the closer we come to a solution.

🔗 https://bit.ly/4ezC2p0

LAUNCH ALERT: Add your voice to our latest campaign. "I Needed This" is a basic needs campaign to speak out for today’s students in higher education.

No student should have to sacrifice their basic needs for learning. Together, with our partner organizations, we’re speaking out about how the most basic needs become the most critical barriers to student success.

Federal policies designed to help Americans meet their basic needs should include students and learners because education touches all of us.

🔗 LEARN. SHARE. SPEAK OUT. (And tag TSC!)
https://socialpresskit.com/todaysstudentscoalition -needed-this