College Access & Completion

Learn more about efforts to expand who goes to college and to help all students who enroll get their degree
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College & Workforce Readiness Dartmouth and Yale Are Backtracking on ‘Test-Optional’ Admissions. Why That Matters
The Ivy League schools say test scores help them make better decisions, but most schools are keeping tests optional.
Elizabeth Heubeck, February 28, 2024
6 min read
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English-Language Learners Opinion How to Connect With English-Language Newcomers. Teachers Share Their Favorite Lessons
Stock classrooms with books that reflect students’ lives, languages, and cultures and invite them into as yet unfamiliar worlds.
Larry Ferlazzo, February 6, 2024
10 min read
Illustration of a college building and diverse students.
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College & Workforce Readiness Q&A Common App Will Offer Some Students Direct College Admission. Its CEO Explains
A new program aimed at motivating more first-generation, low-income students to go to college launches this month.
Ileana Najarro, November 3, 2023
7 min read
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College & Workforce Readiness Opinion To Help Students, One Company Has Unlocked $100 Million a Year in College Aid
A peer-based mentoring organization encourages high school seniors to apply to college and helps them receive financial aid.
Rick Hess, November 2, 2023
7 min read
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Mathematics Why Calculus Remains a Math Flash Point
Debates center on whether all kids should take it or just those who want to major in STEM—and its odd place in college admissions.
Sarah Schwartz, October 30, 2023
4 min read
A dual-credit student from the Ross S. Sterling Future Educator Academy works with children at Liles Early Learning Academy, located on the same campus in Goose Creek, Texas, on Oct. 26, 2023. The district overhauled its dual-credit program to ensure students take classes that will transfer to specific degree programs at six local colleges.
A dual-credit student from the Ross S. Sterling Future Educator Academy works with children at Liles Early Learning Academy, located on the same campus in Goose Creek, Texas, on Oct. 26, 2023. The district overhauled its dual-credit program to ensure students take classes that will transfer to specific degree programs at six local colleges.
Photo courtesy of Carrie Pryor-Newman
College & Workforce Readiness How to Help Students Avoid 'Random Acts of Dual Credit'
Some schools and colleges are working to ensure their dual-credit offerings count toward a degree.
Sarah D. Sparks, October 30, 2023
6 min read
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College & Workforce Readiness The SAT Is Making a Comeback. Here's a Look at the Numbers and What They Tell Us
More colleges have made the test optional, but students are still taking the SAT in droves.
Ileana Najarro, October 25, 2023
5 min read
Harvard University freshman Daniela Andrade on campus October 12, 2021 in Cambridge, Mass.
Harvard University freshman Daniela Andrade on campus Oct. 12, 2021, in Cambridge, Mass.
Angela Rowlings for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness What the Research Says Pandemic High School Grads Are Sticking With College. States Want to Make Sure They Finish
Students' college persistence rates are back to what they were before COVID hit.
Sarah D. Sparks, August 31, 2023
7 min read
People protest outside of the Supreme Court in Washington on June 29, 2023. The Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.
Demonstrators outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 29, the day the court struck down affirmative action in college admissions. The Biden administration on Aug. 14 issued guidance on other ways colleges to promote racial diversity.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Law & Courts Biden Administration Outlines How Colleges Can Pursue Racial Diversity After Court Ruling
The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice say universities may partner with schools on outreach and recruitment of minority students.
Mark Walsh, August 14, 2023
5 min read
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona gives an address to the American Federation of Teachers Together Educating America’s Children (TEACH) conference, in Washington, D.C., on July 21, 2023.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, shown speaking to a teachers' conference on July 21, addressed educational leaders Wednesday about the U.S. Supreme Court's affirmative action decision.
Graeme Sloan for Education Week
Federal Secretary Cardona Says Affirmative Action Decision Will Challenge All Education Leaders
The U.S. Department of Education held a summit to discuss the Supreme Court decision and said that more detailed guidance was coming soon.
Mark Walsh, July 26, 2023
4 min read
Edward Biedermann, executive director of AP Outreach for the College Board, welcomes educators to the first AP annual conference since 2019 in Seattle, Wash., on July 19, 2023.
Edward Biedermann, executive director of AP Outreach for the College Board, welcomes educators to the first AP annual conference since 2019 in Seattle, Wash., on July 19, 2023.
Ileana Najarro/Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness College Board Revisits Contentious Decisions, Edits to AP African American Studies Course
Decisions around AP African American Studies and the future of AP program overall were among discussion points.
Ileana Najarro, July 24, 2023
7 min read
Demonstrators protest outside of the Supreme Court in Washington on June 29, 2023, after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, saying race cannot be a factor.
Demonstrators protest outside of the Supreme Court in Washington on June 29, 2023, after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admissions, saying race cannot be a factor.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Equity & Diversity From College Advising to Teacher Preparation: Affirmative Action Ruling May Reshape K-12
These are some ways in which the Supreme Court’s decision may impact K-12 schools.
Eesha Pendharkar, July 14, 2023
6 min read
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English-Language Learners Opinion Emergent Bilinguals Want to Go to College. You Can Help Them
English-learners want to go to college. They just don't know what steps to take to get there.
Larry Ferlazzo, July 13, 2023
10 min read
Students walk through a gate at Harvard University on June 29, 2023, in Cambridge, Mass. In the wake of a Supreme Court decision that removes race from the admissions process, colleges are coming under renewed pressure to put an end to legacy preferences, the practice of favoring applicants with family ties to alumni. At Harvard, which released years of records as part of the lawsuit that ended up before the Supreme Court, legacy students were eight times more likely to be admitted, and nearly 70% were white, researchers found.
Students walk through a gate at Harvard University on June 29, 2023, in Cambridge, Mass. Harvard was a named defendant in a June U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the consideration of race in college admissions.
Michael Casey/AP
College & Workforce Readiness College Admission Post-Affirmative Action: What Educators Need to Know
College admissions experts share their thoughts on the current selective admissions process and how it might work post-affirmative action.
Ileana Najarro, July 12, 2023
8 min read