U.S. Education Secretary heading to Hartford

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan will be in Hartford on Tuesday at a Hartford Public School to talk about higher education.

Duncan will be joined for the afternoon event by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and his education commissioner and U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra.

The school the leaders will visit — University High School of Science and Engineering — is a public school that has partnered with the University of Hartford as a sort-of “middle college” where all courses are honors level and students are able to enroll in courses at the university.

Duncan plans to talk about FAFSA and resources that are available to help students access higher education.

Yesterday, President Obama hosted college presidents from around the country, including Connecticut Board of Regents President Gregory Gray, to help push efforts to increase college enrollment and completion. Education Week has the full rundown of that initiative and what Gray and officials at Yale and Wesleyan University have promised to do to help increase access.

Duncan has visited Hartford a handful of times in the last couple of years, including after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School and when the state won a wavier to the requirements included in No Child Left Behind.