Welcome to the SSTAR Lab Blog, we’re so glad you’re here!
We use this platform to share current research and practical insights to reduce barriers, improve equity, and support student success in higher education.
Whether you’re a researcher, practitioner, policymaker, or just someone interested in higher education research, we hope you find this site informative and useful!
Latest posts from the SSTAR Lab
Seeking Indigenous Financial Aid Opportunities in the Southwest
By: Cherish Golden We are just months away from releasing our publicly-available interactive website tool that gives Native students one central place to search for funding opportunities they are eligible for. The tool will include …
March 3, 2025Indigenous Financial Aid Opportunities in the South
By: Jessica K. Trad, University of Minnesota This month’s post continues our blog series sharing information about financial aid opportunities for Indigenous students across the United States. We discuss the 13 total funding opportunities available …
February 3, 2025Exploring Indigenous Financial Aid Opportunities in the Mountain West
By: Gresham Collom, Cherish Golden, and Misti Jeffers This month’s post continues our blog series sharing information about financial aid opportunities for Indigenous students across the United States. We highlight a few of the 41 …
January 6, 2025Why is SSTAR Lab so Focused on Rural Research? – A Personal Reflection from the SSTAR Lab Director
By: Nicholas Hillman You may have read recently that the SSTAR Lab is undertaking a new set of studies focused on rural students’ pathways to and through higher education. These two new studies extend our …
December 2, 2024Indigenous Financial Aid Opportunities in the Pacific and West Coast
By: Cherish Golden This blog continues our series highlighting financial aid policies and opportunities that are specific to Indigenous students. Here, we focus on 39 funding opportunities for Indigenous students in five Pacific and West …
December 2, 2024Theories of Change in a Research-Practice Partnership
By: Kathryn Boonstra As a research-practice partnership, SSTAR Lab engages with program leaders and practitioners in ways that are quite different from traditional academic researchers. One role we may play, particularly when launching a partnership …
December 2, 2024Q&A with Vice Provost of Enrollment Management
By: Bonniejean Zitske, Associate Director, SSTAR Lab This month I sat down with Derek Kindle, the Vice Provost of Enrollment Management and our number one supporter! Derek was the Director of Financial Aid when SSTAR …
November 4, 2024Where Can you Find Indigenous Student Financial Aid Opportunities in the Mid-Atlantic Region?
By: Misti Jeffers This post continues our blog series sharing information on financial aid opportunities for Indigenous students across the United States. We highlight details of 24 funding opportunities we found across four Mid-Atlantic states …
November 4, 2024SSTAR Lab Joins National Research Center Studying Rural Students’ College Access
By: Bonniejean Zitske Why do college-going rates in rural communities lag behind non-rural areas, even though their high school completion rates are equal to or higher than those in non-rural areas? Well, that’s a great, …
November 4, 2024An Introduction to the Wisconsin Teacher Pledge
By: Kathryn Boonstra The teacher labor market may be more front-of-mind for everyday Americans today, in the aftermath of COVID-19, than any other time in recent history. While initial fears of a mass exodus of …
November 4, 2024- View more blog posts