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Paying for college consistently ranks as a top concern for students considering stopping out or otherwise at risk of leaving their institution without a credential. And while tuition and fees are often the biggest financial responsibilities students face, there’s also living expenses, books, supplies, activities and more. These expenditures add up, especially as college students experience higher levels of food and housing insecurity than the general population. 

In this live webcast, Inside Higher Ed’s Colleen Flaherty will explore what’s been called the college affordability crisis and share the steps—big and small—that institutions, policymakers and other leaders are taking to ease the financial burden on students.

Key topics include:

  • The data on college costs, its impact on student success and the ongoing debate surrounding the value of a college degree
  • Disparities in financial security levels among students, based on race, ethnicity and gender
  • Initiatives around the country that have addressed housing insecurity among their students and lessons learned from these efforts
  • The extent to which colleges are using financial aid data to help their students meet basic needs
  • An overview of state-level efforts to offer free college in Massachusetts and Colorado
  • The potential for AI to reduce higher education costs in ways that benefit students

Wednesday, October 16 | 2 p.m. E.T.

Supporting Student Success: Case Studies in Making College More Affordable

SPEAKERS

Colleen Flaherty
Senior Editor of Special Content at Inside Higher Ed

Colleen Flaherty, Senior Editor of Special Content, previously served as Student Voice Editor for Inside Higher Ed. Prior to joining the publication in 2012, Colleen was military editor at the Killeen Daily Herald, outside Fort Hood, Texas. Before that, she covered government and land use issues for the Greenwich Time and Hersam Acorn Newspapers in her home state of Connecticut. After graduating from McGill University in Montreal with a degree in English literature, Colleen taught English and English as a second language in public schools in the Bronx, New York. She earned her M.S.Ed. from City University of New York Lehman College as part of the New York City Teaching Fellows program.

Dr. Margaret McMenamin
President of UCNJ Union College of Union County, NJ

Dr. Margaret McMenamin is president of UCNJ Union College of Union County, NJ. Under her leadership, the college’s graduation rate quintupled and UCNJ was recognized as a Top 10 community college by the Aspen Institute for College Excellence in 2023. Previously, she was the vice president of student and academic affairs at Lehigh Carbon Community College as well as the executive vice president and acting president of Brookdale Community College. Dr. McMenamin has an unwavering passion for advancing higher education. Currently, she serves as the chair for the Advisory Board of HERDI, a member of the executive committee of the New Jersey Presidents’ Council, the National Junior College Athletic Association Presidents Council and the board of HACU. In 2020, she was named the National Marie Y. Martin CEO of the year. Dr. McMenamin holds degrees from Temple University, the University of Scranton and Lehigh University.

Doug Lederman
Co-founder and Editor at Inside Higher Ed

Doug Lederman helps lead the news organization's editorial operations, overseeing news content, opinion pieces, career advice, blogs and other features. Doug speaks widely about higher education, including on C-Span and National Public Radio and at meetings and on campuses around the country, and his work has appeared in The New York Times and USA Today, among other publications. Doug was managing editor of The Chronicle of Higher Education from 1999 to 2003. Before that, Doug had worked at The Chronicle since 1986 in a variety of roles, first as an athletics reporter and editor. He has won three National Awards for Education Reporting from the Education Writers Association, including one in 2009 for a series of Inside Higher Ed articles he co-wrote on college rankings. He began his career as a news clerk at The New York Times. He grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and graduated in 1984 from Princeton University.

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