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Insights Blog
Higher Ed Trends, Strategies, and Solutions
First-Generation


Speaking First-Gen, Part 3: The TRUST Framework
After nearly two decades in higher education, I realized the biggest barrier for first-generation students is not access, it is understanding. The words we use, the tone we take, and the way we ask shape whether a student feels college is for them. The TRUST Messaging Framework — Teach, Respond, Understand, Simplify, Talk, was born from thousands of real emails and conversations. It is a tool any campus communicator can use to build clarity, compassion, and connection across

Laura Rudolph
Dec 35 min read


Speaking First-Gen, Part 2: Decoding the Financial Aid Maze
Financial aid should open doors, not close them. But for many first-generation families, aid letters, portals, and payment plans read like a foreign language. This post unpacks why the money conversation is so confusing, how that confusion erodes trust, and what colleges can do to make financial aid communication clear, consistent, and genuinely first-gen friendly.

Laura Rudolph
Nov 274 min read
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