
Join us for IWPR’s 2026 Power+ Summit, The Power Grid: Driving Gender Equity Forward, taking place September 28–29 in Detroit, MI.
Together, we will spark bold ideas, share breakthroughs, and shape the future of gender equity.
By Elissa Nadworny and Jon Marcus
To qualify for federal financial aid, for instance, students generally have to take at least two courses a semester, which is especially tough for working adults with families. They’re not eligible at all for many state financial aid programs.
Many colleges won’t accept transfer credits that date back years. And the proportion offering on-campus childcare has declined, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research reports, to fewer than half of four-year universities and 44 percent of community colleges.
That’s to say nothing of administrative offices that are open only on weekdays during business hours when many adult students are at work, or tutoring that’s not available at night or on weekends.

Join us for IWPR’s 2026 Power+ Summit, The Power Grid: Driving Gender Equity Forward, taking place September 28–29 in Detroit, MI.
Together, we will spark bold ideas, share breakthroughs, and shape the future of gender equity.