| | | | |  | | By Bianca Quilantan | Presented by Sallie Mae® | FAFSA NUMBERS ON THE REBOUND — High school students among the class of 2022 completed 4.6 percent more FAFSA applications this year than in 2020, an early indicator of possibly more high school grads headed to college this fall. — The National College Attainment Network, which put out the report, tracks the forms through the Form Your Future FAFSA Tracker. The tracker is updated between Oct. 1 and June 30, a key timeline for FAFSA completion. — About 92,000 additional applications were submitted this year. NCAN estimates that about 52.1 percent of the senior class completed a FAFSA, the highest percentage since the pandemic started. But the class of 2022 still fell short of the pre-pandemic class of 2019's FAFSA completion rate (53.8 percent). — The gains were largely driven by a more than 9 percent increase in applications from both low-income and high-minority public schools, which faced the largest declines during the pandemic. At those schools, more than half of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch and more than 40 percent of students are Black or Hispanic. IT'S MONDAY, JULY 18. WELCOME TO WEEKLY EDUCATION. HAVE WE MET YET? Let's grab coffee. Ping me at bquilantan@politico.com to chat. Send tips to my colleagues Juan Perez Jr. at jperez@politico.com and Michael Stratford at mstratford@politico.com. And follow us on Twitter: @Morning_Edu and @POLITICOPro.
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| | | WHY THE UPTICK? — To gain more insight into the FAFSA numbers, your host spoke with NCAN Senior Director of Data and Strategic Initiatives Bill DeBaun, the report's author. Here are the highlights: BQ: What's behind the boost? But also, why are we still behind the pre-pandemic numbers? BD: We just had a much more normal academic year. But we are still not back to pre-pandemic normalcy and may not ever be. Students were better connected with college and career advising services being back in person in high school. But this year's class also pretty much had their entire junior year disrupted. The other piece is the economy is very hot right now. High school seniors are thinking about, "Do I want to go into the workforce or do I want to pursue a college education?" For some students, when starting wages are so high right now, they may think to themselves, "I'm gonna delay it for a semester or a year." BQ: Low-income high schools also saw a big boost. Do you have any insight on why? BD: Low-income high schools and high-minority high schools both took severe declines in the class of 2021. So just mathematically, they have a lot more room to bounce back. My theory about this is that when students of color and students from low-income backgrounds are disconnected from college or career advising services, that disproportionately has a negative impact on them. Students being reconnected with school counselors and community-based organizations that provide postsecondary advising support; it's kind of getting them back into the more normal rhythm around advising. BQ: What are your biggest takeaways from the states? BD: At the top of the chart here, we almost always have Louisiana and Tennessee. They have very strong FAFSA completion efforts. But I think the big story among the states this year really has to be Texas and Alabama. This is their first year doing universal FAFSA, and they were both handsomely rewarded for having those policies. Texas was up nearly 26 percent year over year in terms of number of completions. Alabama, about 25 percent. I think this gives us some pretty clear evidence that universal FAFSA policies really do increase the number of FAFSAs completed in a state.
| | A message from Sallie Mae®: Now, more than ever, students and families need help making informed decisions about planning and paying for college. Sallie Mae helps by offering free tools to help all students and families calculate college costs, evaluate financial aid offers, and discover and apply for scholarships. In fact, our scholarship search tool helped more than 24,000 students cover $67 million in college costs in 2020. At Sallie Mae, being responsible goes beyond responsible lending. That's why Sallie Mae makes sense. | | | | | | 'SYSTEMIC FAILURES' — Nearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to the deadly shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the Associated Press reported . But the new report on the investigation unveiled Sunday found that "'systemic failures' created a chaotic scene that lasted more than an hour before the gunman was finally confronted and killed." — The nearly 80-page report, written by an investigative committee from the Texas House of Representatives, is the most complete account yet of the mass shooting that killed 21 people on May 24. — According to the Texas Tribune, 376 officers, mostly federal and state law enforcement, were at the school. Of that number, 149 were U.S. Border Patrol and 91 were state police. Twenty-five were Uvalde police officers, and 16 were sheriff's deputies. The school police force accounted for five officers on the scene. The rest were law enforcement from a neighboring county, U.S. Marshals and federal Drug Enforcement Agency officers.
| | | BIDEN'S TITLE IX INTERPRETATION BLOCKED — A federal judge temporarily blocked the Education Department's Title IX guidance , which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. The lawsuit was filed by 20 Republican attorneys general led by Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery. — Eastern District of Tennessee Judge Charles Atchley in an order said the agency's guidance "directly interferes with and threatens Plaintiff States' ability to continue enforcing their state laws" that restrict transgender people from playing on sports teams and using bathrooms that match their gender identity. Atchley also wrote that the department's guidance documents "ignore the limited reach of Bostock." — Conservative groups lauded the ruling, including the Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents an association of Christian schools and three female athletes seeking to intervene in the lawsuit. "The court was right to find that the Biden administration exceeded its authority in issuing orders that jeopardize fair play," said ADF senior counsel Jonathan Scruggs. — LGBTQ advocates vowed to continue to push back on the rulings. "We are disappointed and outraged by this ruling," said Human Rights Campaign Interim President Joni Madison. "Nothing in this decision can stop schools from treating students consistent with their gender identity. And nothing in this decision eliminates schools' obligations under Title IX or students' or parents' abilities to bring lawsuits in federal court. HRC will continue to fight these anti-transgender rulings with every tool in our toolbox."
| | | | DON'T MISS DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | 'MAMAS FOR DESANTIS' — Last week, hundreds of parental rights advocates attended a first-ever summit thrown by the conservative group Moms for Liberty , which offered attendees seminars on subjects like gender ideology and social-emotional learning while also attempting to inspire and train possible school board candidates. — Since launching in Florida in 2021 amid the pandemic, Moms for Liberty has exploded in growth and is closing in on 100,000 members nationwide, POLITICO Florida's Andrew Atterbury reports. The group is known for being vocal at school board meetings, pushing back against policies they perceive as liberal in schools and supporting the removal of LGTBQ-themed books in libraries. — Winning school board seats was a critical goal among parents at the summit. Many had grown frustrated by local policies, especially pandemic rules such as mask mandates for students and distance learning. Friday morning's special guest, Gov. Ron DeSantis, encouraged attendees to withstand the political pressure from woke corporations and elsewhere. — "Now is not the time to be a shrinking violet. Now is not the time to let them grind you down," DeSantis told the cheering audience. "You've got to stand up and you've got to fight."
| | | — The American Federation of Teachers' national Teacher and School Staff Shortage Task Force released a report outlining solutions to retain teachers. The report found "four key areas that need to change if we are to reverse the teacher and school staff shortages: climate, culture, conditions and compensation." Short on time? Here's the brief version.
| | | | A message from Sallie Mae®:   | | | | | | — AFT, one of the nation's largest teachers unions, wrapped its biennial convention Sunday. Delegates to the union voted overwhelmingly to re-elect President Randi Weingarten, Secretary-Treasurer Fedrick Ingram and Executive Vice President Evelyn DeJesus." — Justice Stephen Breyer, who retired from the Supreme Court last month, is headed to Harvard Law School. "I am very pleased to return to Harvard to teach there and to write," Breyer said in a statement. "Among other things, I will likely try to explain why I believe it important that the next generations of those associated with the law engage in work, and take approaches to law, that help the great American constitutional experiment work effectively for the American people."
| | | — The Supreme Court has ushered in a new era of religion at school: The Atlantic — Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas nominated for NCAA 2022 Woman of the Year Award: CNN — Uvalde school shooting survivors struggle as they await answers: The Washington Post — Some new college grads are ditching plans to become N.J. teachers. Here's why: NJ.com — Bulletproof safety pods for schools draw the internet's ire. An expert weighs in: NPR
| | A message from Sallie Mae®: At Sallie Mae, we want students and families to make responsible choices when it comes to planning and paying for college. That's why we offer free tools and resources to help calculate college costs, evaluate financial aid offers, plus discover and apply for scholarships. We also reward our customers who make payments while in school. More than half choose to do just that, saving them money in the long run and setting them up for financial success. That's why Sallie Mae makes sense. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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