2022 was a notable year not only for the National College Attainment Network (NCAN), but also the college access and success field as a whole. There was a lot of “new” this year, from grants and research to board
members and employees. As we prepare to head into the new year, we wanted to wrap up 2022 and highlight everything we accomplished together.
#NCAN2022
For the first time since 2019, NCAN hosted our national conference in-person in Atlanta, GA. From September 12-14, over 1,200 attendees including NCAN staff, members, and directors gathered for NCAN’s largest conference to date! With
over 70 networking and learning sessions spread over three days, attendees were able to learn about the best new practices for postsecondary advising and success.
We were grateful to be joined by esteemed leader in the postsecondary field,
Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum, who we presented with our Bob Craves Champion of College Access Award.
Federal Student Aid (FSA) Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray also joined us virtually
to give the latest updates on FSA’s various initiatives, including Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) simplification, the Public Student Loan Forgiveness waiver, and more. A panel of NCAN member-served students also highlighted the urgency of increased financial aid to support college students through the affordability crisis.
Several Awards of Excellence were presented to a few of our amazing
members who are making great strides to increasing postsecondary attainment. Melissa Findley of the Missouri Scholarship & Loan Foundation received the Professional of the Year Award, M³ (Milwaukee Public Schools, the Milwaukee Area Technical College, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) received the Partner of the Year Award, and OneGoal received the Member of the Year Award.
College Affordability
One of NCAN’s federal policy priorities is to double the Pell Grant, a need-based grant that helps low-income college students afford the cost of college. After extensive advocating last year through our #Thankful4Pell #DoublePell campaign , this year saw the largest Pell Grant increase since 2009: a $400 increase to the maximum Pell Grant for the 2022-23 award year. It doesn’t stop there though: President Joe Biden himself called for doubling the Pell Grant by 2029 in his fiscal year 2023 budget proposal.
While
these increased investments in the Pell Grant are crucial to NCAN and our members, there is still more financial need to be met. NCAN’s latest Growing Gap report revealed that the affordability
gap – the amount of unmet financial need – of students is trending upwards. In the 2019-20 academic year, the affordability gap for students at public four-year institutions was $2,627, while at community colleges the gap was $907. This research highlights
the urgency of greater investments in federal financial aid.
NCAN and our members continued to push for a greater Pell Grant increase to close the growing gap. For this year’s #Thankful4Pell campaign, members across the country shared NCAN’s Growing Gap research on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook and advocated for Congress to invest in a more powerful Pell Grant. We greatly appreciate your participation
in our campaign to #DoublePell!
FAFSA Completion
Earlier this year, NCAN’s Pell Dollars Left on the Table research found
that $3.75 billion dollars of Pell Grants went unclaimed by the high school class of 2021. Students missed out on this aid by not completing the FAFSA as an estimate of only 54% of class of 2021 graduates completed the form.
While this data
is concerning, it brings awareness to the work we must do to reach out to students who haven’t completed the FAFSA. NCAN’s FAFSA Tracker has been updated for the new 2023-24 FAFSA cycle to reflect the completion rates for current high school seniors. The tracker shows promising early results for the class of 2023, as 22.5% of high school seniors have already
completed their FAFSA. This is a 7% increase compared to last year.
NCAN has various FAFSA resources for our members to support them in this work. We have also
brought back our monthly FAFSA email reminder series to keep high school practitioners on track with their FAFSA completion efforts.
Expanding Postsecondary Success
NCAN received two grants this year to aid our members in strengthening their postsecondary support services in two key areas. The Oak Foundation grant will allow members to better support students with learning differences in their transition to postsecondary institutions. The ECMC Foundation grant will support members in providing students with culturally responsive mental health and wellbeing resources.
NCAN is pleased to be a partner to these two important initiatives. NCAN’s member advisory council highlighted
the prevalence of learning disabilities and how many students often go unsupported at their postsecondary institutions. Mental health challenges have also been contributing to students’ college experiences, especially as the pandemic has drastically affected
their education. Investing in these key areas of postsecondary education is critical for expanding college success for a broader demographic of students.
The applications for these grants closed on December 1 and the grant recipients are
to be announced.
New Board Members
Drs. Bernard McCune and Doug Shapiro were appointed to the board of directors in late August.
McCune is the current Senior Executive Director for Career and College Success for Denver Public Schools. Shapiro is the Executive Research Director at the National Student Clearinghouse.
New Staff
The new year saw several new faces at NCAN. In January, David LaNore was hired as the Member Services Associate while
Nancy Washington joined as Chief of Staff. LaNore was later promoted to Member Services Manager. In June, we welcomed Catherine Brownas Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy. Then, in July, Caroline Doglio came onboard as Program Associate. Most
recently, Matthew Odom joined the team as our new Communications Manager. Our team is constantly growing to meet the needs of our members and
their students.
While it has been a strenuous collective effort to recover from the ongoing pandemic, a lot of promising progress is being made in terms of college affordability, FAFSA completion, and expanding postsecondary support. We thank
our members for contributing to our accomplishments in 2022, and we look forward to what's ahead in postsecondary attainment for 2023.
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