What We Do

Our Mission

Better Future Forward is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit leading a movement in education finance reform.

We believe everyone should have the chance to succeed without worrying about how to afford school, how to afford future monthly payments, or whether their hard work and financial sacrifice will pay off.

Our current higher education system falls dramatically short of that standard, creating pervasive gaps and inequities in access to educational advancement. BFF is working to change that reality.

“We create community-based funds designed to ensure historically marginalized students have access to protective financial support to enable them to access, and fully participate in, high-quality educational pathways to a prosperous and fulfilling life.”

The Current Problem

Students do not have enough financial support.

They often work excessive hours while studying or go without necessities. Some simply drop out.

Too often Students must rely on financing options that may not offer safeguards for life’s uncertainties.

A brief setback later in life, such as a period of unemployment, could result in fees, delinquency, or default. Protections, such as forbearance, often cause students to owe much greater amounts down the line.

Students are left wondering whether it was all worth it.

What should be a point of pride and accomplishment turns into doubt. The benefits so often do not offset the costs. Will their studies truly result in a better life for themselves and their families?

Our Solution

It is time for iterative, student-centered approaches that are fair and centered around the needs of historically marginalized populations. Even in a system as large and complex as higher education, we believe positive, meaningful change is possible and we work hard to see it happen.

In response to the current system, Better Future Forward (BFF) developed community funds purpose-built around three principles critical to equity:

We believe all students should have the financial support to enroll full-time and graduate on time. All should have a reasonable, healthy standard of living.
We believe students should not need to risk their financial health to access higher education.
We believe students, when they do the work to study and achieve, should have confidence in their futures.

Through our work:

We aim to enable the students we serve to reach fulfillment and economic self-sufficiency through higher education. We will scale our programs to reach every student who could benefit from them.

We aim to innovate a new model of equitable student finance that will guide the construction of an education finance system centered around equity and opportunity.

We aim to use community funds to drive positive, equity-based changes in the education system. This will help grow and support the organizations, institutions, and programs that are achieving strong outcomes for underserved students.

+ Our views on the state of Higher Education in the US and how we are challenging it.

Our current system dates back over a half century. The thinking was that for all students to be able to access our nation’s superior higher education system and have better lives, they just needed the money to cover the costs. To this end, policymakers dramatically expanded access to student loans. The system seemed cost effective, and there was no worry that anything would hinder students from repayment.

While it’s true that higher education is an increasingly essential gateway to economic and personal well-being, this view is incomplete. It fails to recognize that many students face setbacks. Sometimes, a chosen career doesn’t work out. Family issues arise, the economy falters. And today, one graduates in a pandemic. This view also fails to recognize that not all institutions and programs serve students well. Many fail to provide assistance up to graduation and through the transition to a stable, decent-paying job. Others are too expensive.

Higher education must be accessible to all who wish to pursue it. But students should not be forced to bear risks alone. And when circumstances are reasonably beyond their control, it is unfair to say students should have been more financially responsible or literate.

For decades, well-intentioned people have been working to address the system’s shortcomings. Policymakers have introduced repayment plans that let students tie their payments to their income and offer forgiveness after a set time. They have also tried to protect students from low-value programs. It is true these reforms have helped and are important.

But the reforms so far have not been enough. They have been slow to appear and many fail to address core challenges students face. They were built without student input. And worst of all, each effort has been disconnected from the others. In trying to understand the loan ecosystem, students must navigate a convoluted system that constantly changes.

As a result, and despite these incremental reforms, today’s system still falls dramatically short of what is needed. For example, the average low-income student attending a public institution faces yearly out-of-pocket costs of roughly $12,870; 26 percent of federal, undergraduate student loan dollars issued in fiscal year 2018 will end up in default at some point (as projected by the US Department of Education); and almost 40 percent of students who pursue higher education do not graduate.

This is unacceptable. And we are dedicated to helping change it.

“I [didn’t] even know how college loans work. I just needed some piece of advice about what to do and what not to do. [My coordinator] actually forwarded a link, which is this program, [BFF]. And I went and I took it from there. I think this program really saved my life.”

— Vida, Class of 2022