New from EdNC

FAFSA completion rates: Where does NC stand?
This is the second piece in a series on the FAFSA. Follow along with the rest of the series here. As the school year wraps up — albeit under different circumstances than anyone expected — schools and districts are making one last push to encourage high school seniors to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or the FAFSA.…

‘Connecting the dots that lead to educational attainment and gainful employment’
In 2019, local leaders in Henderson, Madison, Buncombe, and Transylvania counties formed the Land of Sky Educational Attainment and Workforce Collaborative to better align educational outcomes with future economic needs of the region.…

Perspective | The kids will be fine
A New York Times editorial referred to K-12 students in the U.S. as a “lost generation of kids.” After interviewing education experts, writers at the Washington Post concluded “millions of public school students will suffer.”…

Perspective | Remote learning without internet access: Workarounds from rural communities
Recently, in response to COVID-19, much needed additional state and federal funding has been allocated to North Carolina’s public schools. With the use of these funds, combined with state and local partnerships, more efforts are being made to connect students and teachers to broadband internet through allocating $1 million for Wi-Fi buses, $11 million for community and home mobile internet access, and $30 million for devices to help address the 197,000 student households still lacking internet access.…
The Editor’s Notes
This week, we are taking a look at FAFSA and why it matters so much when it comes to getting kids to their first day of a postsecondary experience. You can find the series here.
“[N]ationally, students who complete financial aid applications are 82 percent more likely to go straight on to higher education than their peers who don’t finish the forms. That number jumps to 127 percent for students from the lowest-income backgrounds, according to the National College Attainment Network,” notes this article in The 74 on the impact of COVID-19 on FAFSA completion. Today, take a look at the map in the article by Molly and Analisa and see where your district stands on FAFSA completion.
Need to know
‘I Am Beyond Worried’: More HS Students Are Applying for Financial Aid — and Enrolling in College as a Result. Coronavirus May Put an End to Both
"Integrating financial aid applications into high school really normalizes the experience of application completion for students."... Read the rest
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With higher ed in limbo, students are switching to community colleges
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PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY 4PM | State government releases guidelines for return of youth, high school sports