South By North Strategies, Ltd.

A new policy brief from The Working Poor Families Project consider how the federal College Access Challenge Grant Program could better serve adult learners. The report explains how the program work and lays out ways in which state policymakers could leverage the program for the benefit of adult students. From the report:

The College Access Challenge Grant Program, or CACG, is intended to strengthen educational attainment of low-income students by funding state strategies that improve access to postsecondary education. Congress established CACG in 2007 as a federal matching grant program; this year states will receive $150 million from the federal government for this program. states can use the funding for a variety of strategies intended to expand access to postsecondary education, including marketing campaigns, web portals, mentoring programs,financial aid and others. At present, CACG policymakers are primarily focused on improving the rate of college entry by middle and high school students. While this is a vital strategy, CACG has great untapped potential to improve college access and success for a much larger, yet often overlooked, population: low-skilled adults who are no longer in the formal education system.