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Sara Hebel

Co-founder and editor-in-chief of Open Campus

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Posted inThe Dispatch

Rafael had high expectations. The system didn’t share them.

By Sara HebelOctober 7, 2022October 10, 2022

With just a few months before graduation, he thought he was on track to attend university, but he wasn’t.

Posted inThe Dispatch

When internships are the barrier

By Sara Hebel and Scott SmallwoodSeptember 30, 2022September 30, 2022

How unpaid work perpetuates wealth gaps. Plus, meet our new partner in Cleveland.

Posted inThe Dispatch

Local stories of student debt

By Sara HebelAugust 26, 2022August 26, 2022

What our reporters across the country heard about Biden’s announcement: a mix of relief, disappointment, and lingering stress.

Posted inThe Dispatch

Should college be the bar for clemency?

By Sara HebelJuly 15, 2022July 18, 2022

Petitions for clemency must address two questions: Why do you need relief, and why do you deserve it? For Johnny Pippins, education is the answer to both.

Posted inThe Dispatch

A threat to a city’s ‘eds and meds’ renaissance?

By Sara Hebel and Scott SmallwoodJuly 8, 2022July 8, 2022

Pittsburgh’s health professions are threatened: Enrollment in key training programs is plummeting as is job satisfaction in many of those careers.

Posted inThe Dispatch

The pandemic promised change. Here, it didn’t come.

By Sara HebelJune 24, 2022June 24, 2022

For all the attention paid to inequities in high-speed internet access, little has changed for many rural communities.

Posted inThe Dispatch

A devotion to merit aid in the South

By Sara HebelMay 13, 2022May 13, 2022

Most states award the bulk of their aid to students based on financial need. Since the 1990s, many Southern states have instead focused on metrics like grades and test scores.

Posted inThe Dispatch

Getting in, dropping out, making it through

By Sara HebelMay 6, 2022May 6, 2022

We’re spending this year talking with Californians about their experiences with college. What really gets in their way? What, or who, keeps them going?

Posted inThe Dispatch

When $93 is a barrier to college

By Sara HebelApril 29, 2022April 29, 2022

The Education Department this week announced a fix for a big, little-discussed barrier to broadening access to prison education.

Posted inThe Dispatch

What will become of work?

By Sara HebelMarch 25, 2022March 25, 2022

“A lot is up for grabs in the coming years,” says Paul Fain, who writes The Job. “Some colleges and employers will seize the moment and open up new pathways to good jobs. The question is how many, and for whom?”

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