Attainment & Innovation

Credentials have proliferated in recent years to meet the diverse needs of our 21st century knowledge economy, including not only degrees, but also certificates, professional/industry certifications, licensures and badges. Deborah Seymour and Deborah Everhart write on the importance of sorting through this maze of post-secondary credentials.

As ACE and the Association of College and University Educators’ launch a national effort to advance effective higher education instruction, Deborah Seymour writes on the importance of quality teaching at the college level.

President Obama in 2014 signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which helps ensure that job seekers have access to strategically coordinated education, employment, training and support services. However, in a small town in Illinois, one mayor was already spearheading the kind of strategic planning the federal mandate would soon require. ACE Fellow Kenya F. Ayers takes a look.

Since the passage of the Post-9/11 GI Bill in 2009, the United States has spent more than $53 billion to educate over 1.4 million military-connected students. However, a large share of veterans and other military-connected students do not receive VA/DoD education benefits or other financial aid to help pay for college. What can be done to ensure they get the support they need and are entitled to?

With implementation of the Tennessee Promise, higher education is looking to Tennessee for lessons learned during its foray into the world of free community college. The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) is no less a stranger to scrutiny for its innovative practices in developmental education. Tristan Denley discusses TBR’s pioneering approach to remediation.

First launched in 2006, the Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars Program supports nearly 1,250 undergraduates annually and will soon surpass the 2,000 alumni milestone. For the first-generation and low-income students in the program, early estimates indicate that they are 44 percent more likely to graduate in four years and 47 percent more likely to complete in six years compared to their peers.