The Hidden Educational Barrier: Public Benefit Programs

Many people from low-income backgrounds face significant barriers accessing and completing postsecondary credentials. Socioeconomic barriers include affordability challenges and insufficient financial aid that was built on assumptions of parental support, as well as a lack of advocacy and awareness needed to navigate complex systems. A lesser understood barrier is the way that public benefit programs not only hinder access and completion of credentials and degrees but how they actively prevent it.

Join us to better understand how restrictions on education in public benefit programs cut off pathways that can move people from poverty to prosperity. We will discuss how public benefits and postsecondary education intersect as well as opportunities that exist to reduce barriers across policies and programs.

Presenters:

• Carrie Welton, Senior Policy Strategist, Trellis Strategies