Over half of Utah high school seniors miss out on possible financial aid chances
For the third year in a row, Utah has the highest percentage of high school graduates who didn’t complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) — 55%. According to an analysis by NerdWallet, Utah seniors missed out on an estimated $36 million of Pell Grant aid (no repayment required) as they moved on […]
Who is today’s “typical” college student?
While many tend to think of the “typical” college student as an 18-22 year-old who lives on campus and attends classes full time, in reality, nearly 40% of undergraduate students are older than 25, about 58% are working while attending college, and more than one-quarter are parents, according to data from the Lumina Foundation, a […]
StepUp to Higher Education 2016-17 Annual Report: College prep message reaching more Utah students than ever
StepUp to Higher Education—an initiative from the State of Utah—is Utah’s go-to source for college-readiness information, including resources for preparing and paying for college, searching and applying for scholarships, and earning college credit in high school. StepUp is the primary outreach program of the Board of Regents to high school students and parents on college […]
Regents address mental health on Utah’s college campuses
Mental health has become a prominent issue for Utah’s college students. During the last legislative session, the Utah Legislature passed a concurrent resolution declaring student mental health a public health crisis on Utah’s college campuses. In December 2016, Regent Chair Dan Campbell convened the Regents’ Mental Health Working Group to recommend action to address student […]
UESP kicks off Make Your Mark scholarship contest
Winners of bookmark design competition will receive $1,000 scholarship accounts The Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP) and StepUp to Higher Education will celebrate National College Savings Month in September by sponsoring the annual UESP Make Your Mark bookmark design contest. Eight Utah students in kindergarten through grade 12 each will receive a $1,000 college savings […]
College-readiness program, StepUp Utah Scholars, makes changes for the 2017-18 school year
Launched in the 2006-07 school year, the Utah Scholars Initiative is a college-readiness program that helps students understand why college is so important and what they can do in junior high and high school to prepare for college, pay for college, and succeed in college and the workforce. When the program first began, volunteers visited […]
Average student debt in Utah continues to be lowest in nation
LendEdu recently released student loan debt statistics for the class of 2016, and Utah continues to have the lowest average student debt in the country at $18,810 (compared to the national average of $27,975). In fact, Utah was the only state in the nation with an average student debt load under $20,000. Utah also has the lowest […]
Analysis: USHE students likely to transfer & change majors before graduation
The general perception of a traditional college career goes as follows: upon high school graduation, a student immediately enrolls the following year in a college or university, attends full-time, and soon thereafter graduates from the same college two to four years later. A new analysis by the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education looks at how […]
Governor Herbert meets with regents, trustees and presidents
The Board of Regents, Boards of Trustees and presidents from all eight USHE institutions recently participated in a joint meeting of higher education leaders to discuss some of Utah’s most pressing higher education issues. This once-a-year coordinating meeting occurs in conjunction with the Regents’ regularly-scheduled July meeting. Governor Herbert also attended a portion of the […]
New report: 30M good jobs that pay without a BA (but many still require college)
Although the decline in the manufacturing economy eliminated many good jobs for high school graduates, new research from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (Georgetown Center) finds that there are currently 30 million good jobs in the U.S. that pay well without a bachelor’s degree (B.A.). These good jobs have a median […]
