It’s a tough time for higher education, with colleges across the country facing enrollment challenges, a decline in public confidence, political attacks from conservative lawmakers, and more.

And yet, the real threat to higher education might be something far less headline-worthy. It may just come down to a single word: change. Colleges that can respond well to it could succeed. Those that falter may be left behind.

Ongoing delays and system glitches with the revamped Free Application for Federal Student Aid are stoking anxiety among students and families. And those challenges are falling heavily on low-income and first-generation students, whom the new FAFSA is meant to help the most. 

Elizabeth Herrera, like many college-access advocates, fears that continual complications with the form will discourage some disadvantaged students, deter them from completing the application, and unravel their postsecondary plans.

Illustration: Lewis Waters

James “Sneaky” White, 80, spent nearly four decades incarcerated in a California prison. His nickname “Sneaky” comes from his days as a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. 

While in prison, White created a college program that has since graduated more than 1,500 men. At the time, San Quentin was the only other prison in the state where incarcerated people could earn degrees. White explains why education became both his mission and his salvation in this essay.