Shabana Basij-Rasikh leads the School of Leadership of Afghanistan that's now based in Rwanda. SOLA relocated after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan five years ago. The school provides education for Afghan girls who face restrictions at home. Classes will begin on the new campus later this month. SOLA also launched an online platform to reach more girls using smartphones. SOLAx offers classes based on the Afghan curriculum and now has 41,000 students worldwide. Basij-Rasikh emphasizes the importance of global support and aims to return to Afghanistan one day. She remains committed to empowering Afghan girls and hopes they will lead future change in Afghanistan. Basij-Rasikh does this despite threats to her safety.

Colleges around the country are seeking approval for a new federal grant program, Workforce Pell, to aid students enrolled for short-term job training. For decades, Pell grants have helped low- and moderate-income students attend college, but eligible programs had to be at least 15 weeks and a minimum of 600 hours. The expansion makes some shorter-term programs eligible, too. The federal government began accepting applications in July and has approved the first programs, including an emergency medical technician program in Iowa and a medical assistant program in Indiana.