The Working Poor Families Project

CWU just released a new report, “Unlocking the Doors to Higher Education and Training for Massachusetts’ Working Poor Families,” which describes the critical need for working poor families, especially those headed by women, to obtain some higher education and training in order to pull themselves out of poverty. 

The paper suggests three important things the state can do to support success in obtaining higher education & training:

1. Insure that working poor students don’t fall through the cracks when transitioning from K-12, to adult education, to higher education systems
2. Help working poor students succeed by helping them make good choices about what career to pursue; what school to go to; and by providing free or low-cost, child care, case management and other specialized supports for non-traditional students
3. Lower the financial barriers to education by increasing special grants (not loans) that cover tuition, fees, books and living expenses to support working poor students and by offering free tuition at community colleges.

Read the report now and tell us what you think!

Interactive: We want to hear your ideas!

How you think Massachusetts can better support you, or people you work with, to get an Associate's degree or an equivalent certificate? The more details you can share about your ideas the better!

Comments

[Cori]

Suggestion to improve education:

DO SOMETHING ABOUT PROGRAMS THAT THE STATE MANDATES BUT MAKES TOWNS PAY FOR!

The out-of-control cost of programs that the state REQUIRES towns to maintain means that any approved budget increases are FIRST spent there. If the rise in those costs is more than the budget increase, then all other programs are REDUCED. I've seen it happen.

The child being left behind is the quiet one, the average one, the suburban/rural one, the one who used to get enrichment along with the basics but now only gets MCAS drills. The one who had potential.

If the state wants it done, FUND it. We'll gladly pick up the tab for the rest.

[D. Johnson]

You need to have a business-education partnership with the education to get an associate's degree receiving priority and work being part-time. Contracts that state an employee will work for that company X years in exchange for tuition reimburesement would be nice. SAFE company housing would be useful, too.

[Laura Sanders]

I like your idea #3 best. Money is a HUGE barrier to students. Student loan interest is extremely high, so a little help could go a long way. I think Harvard is setting a great example with their new tuition guidelines. I wish more institutions would follow.

What's not on your list is that schools should prepare children for higher education from a much younger age than high school. Schools must teach children to have an expectation to go on to higher education, making career planning a part of their curriculum beginning at least around 5th grade. This will help students have a clear goal to work towards through middle and high school. I don’t think schools are doing enough of that now. An atmosphere of success will go a long way to get kids excited about higher education and that will help.