NPEA Conference 2026

The 2026 National Partnership for Educational Access (NPEA) Annual Conference will bring together education leaders from across the country to gather in community to share strategies for supporting students from under-resourced communities.

The conference theme is Collective Power, Shared Purpose: Advancing Access in Education. In a time of profound change and complex challenges, we remain grounded in our shared commitment to advancing opportunity, fostering belonging, and developing bold, collaborative solutions that center students and families. Attendees will explore how to harness our collective power to amplify and sustain our work, and together, we will reflect, refocus, and renew our commitment to education access.

Join our session – Simplifying the scholarship treasure hunt

For many first-generation and low-income students, scholarships can be the difference between starting college and finishing it. But finding them can feel like a treasure hunt: underrepresented students don’t know which opportunities they are qualified for, and scholarship providers struggle to reach students with high financial need.

This session highlights how partnerships can simplify the process. We’ll discuss leveraging technology integrations, scholarship matching tools, and wraparound advising to increase both scholarship wins and college completion. Learn insights from Common App’s collaborations with Scholarship America and the National Scholarship Providers Association to deliver scholarship notifications directly to students within their application. We’ll then share how the KIPP Forward team at KIPP Atlanta Schools is equipping high school students with the tools and supports needed to discover, apply for, and track scholarships, and how the team continues that support in college through persistence advising. Attendees will gain strategies and learn how to leverage partnerships to help more underrepresented students access funding, persist in college, and achieve postsecondary success.