The NEP Blog

Real talk.
Real guidance.

Insights on college prep, financial aid, Black student success at PWIs, and the educational advocacy work that this moment demands. Written from lived experience — for students, parents, and institutions who want the truth.

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Featured
DEI & Advocacy
When the Protections Disappear: What the DEI Rollback Means for Black Students Right Now
When DEI protections were stripped from Ohio institutions, I didn't wait to see what would happen. I already knew. I had lived those conditions — and I understood exactly what students would face without the structures that had been painstakingly built for them. This is what it means. And this is what we do now.
Kris Y. Coleman
May 2025
8 min read
Read the full post
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Financial Aid
Your Award Letter Is Not an Offer — It's a Negotiation
Most families open their financial aid award letter and feel relief or panic. Neither is the right response. The right response is a strategy. Here's how to read it, what to question, and how to ask for more.
Apr 2025
6 min read Read
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PWI Navigation
The First 90 Days: What No One Tells Black Students About Starting at a PWI
The first semester is where students are made or broken. Not academically — culturally. Here's what to expect, what to document, and how to stay anchored when the institution starts asking you to disappear.
Mar 2025
7 min read Read
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Identity & Culture
Standing on the Slave Castle: What Ghana Taught Me About Who My Students Already Are
In 2025, I stood on top of Cape Coast Castle and looked out over West Africa. What I found there was not grief. It was power. And it changed everything I teach about Black student identity.
Feb 2025
9 min read Read
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Parent Advocacy
Five Questions Every Black Parent Should Ask Before Their Student Commits to a College
Not about rankings. Not about reputation. About the real questions — the ones that determine whether your child will be supported, seen, and set up to succeed once they walk through those doors.
Jan 2025
5 min read Read
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Pre-Med & Pre-Law
Advisor, Mentor, Sponsor, Trainer: Why Black Pre-Law Students Need All Four
Most Black pre-law students have one person in their corner, if they're lucky. The students who make it to law school — and thrive there — know how to build a team. Here's the difference between each role and how to find them.
Dec 2024
6 min read Read
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DEI & Advocacy
Reconstruction. Jim Crow. Civil Rights. Now. Every Generation Did the Work.
Each generation of African Americans faced conditions designed to stop them — and each generation built something anyway. This is our moment to do the same. What that looks like in 2025 and beyond.
Nov 2024
7 min read Read
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Financial Aid
The Hidden Costs on Every College Award Letter (And How to Find Them)
Tuition is just the beginning. Room, board, fees, transportation, personal expenses — the real cost of attendance is buried in the details. Here's how to find every number and calculate what you'll actually owe.
Oct 2024
5 min read Read
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Identity & Culture
Code Switching vs. Assimilation: Knowing the Difference Could Save Your Sanity
There's a difference between adapting your communication style and erasing yourself. One is a skill. The other is a slow harm. Black students at PWIs need to know which one they're being asked to do — and how to come back to themselves.
Sep 2024
6 min read Read
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