The value and purpose of higher education has been increasingly challenged within a broader climate of polarization, distrust in institutions, and growing economic uncertainty. While questions rooted in affordability and return-on-investment miss the realities of financial aid and long-term outcomes, we cannot ignore the real questions that students and families have about the worth of higher education. 

 

As practitioners of FGLI student support, these questions are actually not new. We have long been tasked with translating the value of higher education to communities who are skeptical or unfamiliar with its pathways and promises, and with ensuring that our institutions are of actual value to all of our students, regardless of their background. And, we have remained committed to creating robust communities among students with widely different belief structures. How, then, might we think about the unique expertise and knowledge that we bring to these conversations? 

 

How do we continue to foster trust with students and external communities in this complicated environment? How can we help our institutions in demonstrating and translating the importance of holistic learning and growth that takes place during college? What can our role be in institutional change as the needs of first-generation and low-income students become increasingly urgent and complex? And, as these students begin their journeys on campus, how do we help ensure they are equipped to enter the workforce with tangible tools and skills, and are prepared to pursue careers that are both stable and meaningful? 

 

Our 2025 conference invited us to remember our North Stars as we navigated a time of uncertainty – to move forward in alignment with our mission of access and success for FGLI students as we made budgetary pivots and programmatic transformations in response to philosophical challenges and material instability. Now, in 2026, we must look to the horizon despite the headwinds. We are called to remind the communities we serve about our commitment, and we have an opportunity to revitalize the image we hold of what higher education truly is and can be. There is a strong case for college, now more than ever before. This year’s conference asks us to re-engage that truth with our eyes on the future – for our institutions, for our programs, and for our students.