By Catherine Brown, Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy
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The National College Attainment Network (NCAN) is pleased to announce receipt of a two-year, $400,000 grant from the Joyce Foundation to provide enhanced policy and advocacy support to our Midwest
members to help them advance college affordability state policies. “With this grant, we will provide more tools, resources, and peer learning opportunities to our 70-plus members in the Midwest,” said NCAN CEO Kim Cook. “Students in the Midwest pay
a higher share of tuition costs than in any other region of the country and NCAN is very pleased to be able to provide targeted and enhanced support to our members working to advance college affordability at the state level,” she continued.
Fewer than half of the public institutions in Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, and Ohio are affordable for the average Pell Grant recipient, according to NCAN’s “Growing Gap” analysis.
On average, Pell Grant recipients must pay $2,627 at public four-year institutions and $907 at public community colleges even after accounting for federal and state financial aid, student loans, family contributions, and student wages.
NCAN will provide a variety of research and skill-building support to our Midwest members, including region-specific data on college affordability, in-person regional training and networking opportunities, and an advocacy toolkit with guidance on writing
an op-ed, meeting with a policymaker, or advocating within the legal boundaries for nonprofit organizations. Additional resources will include sharable issue briefs, enacted legislation, and example state policies.
NCAN members in the Midwest have asked NCAN to facilitate stronger connections between members across the region so that they can learn from one another and explore regional solutions to college affordability. “Organizations and partners working in this
area across Ohio would greatly benefit from a common agenda, synchronized materials, and regular convenings to drive the collective work in these priority areas. The structure and credibility that NCAN could lend to the advocacy work in Ohio would
boost the efforts of our individual organizations and bring lasting change for individuals pursuing postsecondary education not to mention improve the economic well-being of the state,” said Kittie Warshawsky, Chief External Affairs Officer at
College Now Greater Cleveland.
NCAN has deepened its commitment to state policy over the last two years. In December, NCAN released an interactive dashboard of eight state policy levers and launched a series of state policy working groups to provide a
forum for members to share information and strategic advice. “This Joyce Foundation grant launches our next phase of state policy work through region-specific support, and we hope to build on this approach in other parts of the country,” Cook said.
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