Read the latest edition of our newletter: Leader Summer 2025
Announcing AAUW’s New Strategic Plan
New Strategic plan and link to toolkit: Leader Resources &
Tools – AAUW : Empowering Women Since 1881
Key Priorities Include:
• Expanding Access to Higher Education: Providing direct funding for women in
underserved communities and underrepresented fields, such as STEM, to
promote economic security and upward mobility.
• Advocating for Inclusive Policies: Championing legislation that supports
women’s success in higher education and the workplace, including pay equity,
paid family and medical leave, and robust workplace harassment protections.
• Strengthening AAUW’s Reach: Supporting local, state and branch efforts and
maximizing AAUW’s financial and operational strength to build a movement of
champions for gender equity.
We empower potential.
Women and Student Debt
College attendance is at a record high. Yet the price tag of a college education has more than doubled over the past generation while household incomes have barely budged. Women hold almost 2/3 of the country’s $1.54-trillion student debt: $929 billion. Women earning a bachelor’s degree graduate owing an average of $2,700 more than their male peers. Student debt is the second-highest source of household debt after housing.
Women take about two years longer than men to repay student loans. From the moment women graduate from college, most face a gender pay gap — which compounds as they age. This makes it even harder to pay off their larger share of student debt. As a result, women often put off saving for retirement, buying a home or starting a business.
Solutions
AAUW supports legislation that would make college more affordable for all students and help millions of borrowers across the country pay off their student debt. We need diverse solutions to address the challenges students — especially women — face before, during and after college. Congress must pass legislation that would:
- Protect and expand Pell Grants for low-income students to reduce the amount of student loan debt they have to take on to complete a degree.
- Help to eliminate the gender pay gap, like the Paycheck Fairness Act.
- Increase funding for public colleges and universities and support efforts to move toward tuition- and debt-free options for students.