HCM Strategists Announced Two Federal Financial Aid Advocacy (FFAA) Fund Grant Recipients
Generation Progress and The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) Are Newest FFAA Fund Recipients and Will Receive Over $175,000 for Advocacy Work; More Than $440,000 Remains for Competitive
Applications Due June 24
HCM Strategists, one of the nation’s leading advocacy and public policy firms, has announced two additional recipients of the Federal Financial Aid Advocacy (FFAA) Fund, which is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Generation Progress and The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) together will receive more than $175,000 in grant funding to support their advocacy efforts surrounding federal financial aid.
“We are excited to select Generation Progress and TICAS as our next two FFAA Fund recipients,” said Terrell Halaska, managing partner at HCM Strategists. “Their proposed projects represent good examples of why the FFAA Fund was established: to find creative ways to add new voices into the mix around federal financial aid.”
The two new FFAA Fund grant recipients, approved projects and individual grant amounts are:
Generation Progress at the Center for American Progress ($100,000): Generation Progress is the youth engagement arm of the Center for American progress and works to engage the millennial generation around issue-based campaigns. For its FFAA Fund project, Generation Progress will build an advocacy campaign around borrower stories and public roundtables. The goal is to educate U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service officials and relevant congressional members and staff on operational changes necessary to simplify the process of income-driven loan repayment.
The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) ($75,775): TICAS, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, works to make higher education more available and affordable for people of all backgrounds. For its FFAA Funds project, TICAS will advocate for reducing the hidden “verification” paperwork that acts as a roadblock for eligible students to receiving aid from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This project is part of a collaboration with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) and the National College Access Network (NCAN), and will elevate the voices of financial aid officers and college access practitioners who work directly with students. Advocacy activities will include collecting new survey data and stakeholder stories, and conducting media outreach and policymaker education.
Generation Progress and TICAS join the first three FFAA Fund recipients selected last month: Campaign for College Opportunity, National College Access Network and Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The newest grants bring the total amount awarded to more than $668,000.
