First-Gen Students Get a Helping Hand

This program for first-gen college students is a great example of how a modest amount of support for the most vulnerable students pays society back in spades. Cohort after cohort of successful new health-science professionals creates a huge ROI - here's hoping the federal funding stays in place. Gorgeous photo by my long-time colleague Jim Block.

"A 2015 Pell Institute study found just 9 percent of students from the bottom income quartile graduate with a bachelor’s degree by age 24, compared to 77 percent for the top income quartile.... 'The quicker you get these higher-risk students through, the more likely they are to finish,' says CHSS Dean Alvin Alvarez." Read more.