Combined College Affordability Clips

Why Tuition Has Skyrocketed at State
Schools
By
CATHERINE RAMPELL
MARCH 2, 2012 5:37 PM March 2, 2012 5:37 pm 87 Comments
I have an article today about the states long-term divestment from public higher
education, and what that means for students.
As Im sure you know, college tuitions have been skyrocketing for decades with
growth outpacing the Consumer Price Index, gasoline and even that great bugaboo of
out-of-control costs, health care.
Heres a chart showing price changes in these categories. The lines represent the price in
a given year, as a percent of the price in 1985. For example, if a line reaches 200, that
means prices in that year were 200 percent of those in 1985, or twice as high.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
College tuition and fees today are 559 percent of their cost in 1985. In other words, they
have nearly sextupled (while consumer prices have roughly doubled).
Theres a lot of debate about why college costs have risen so much.Many people assume
that schools are spending too much money on frivolous things like climbing walls and
Jacuzzis. Thats true for a handful of elite schools, but not for a vast majority.
Some of the rising cost has to do with other services schools have been adding over the
last few decades, like mental health counselors and emergency alert systems. And
certainly there are other inefficiencies that have crept into the system as higher
education has become more things to more people.
But at least at public colleges and universities which enroll three out of every four
American college students the main cause of tuition growth has been huge state
funding cuts.
Every recession, states face a budget squeeze as their tax revenue falls and demand for
their services rises. They have to cut something, and higher education is often a prime
target.
Why? Struggling states have to prioritize other mandatory spending, like Medicaid.
Higher education usually falls under the discretionary spending part of the budget
and in fact is often one of the biggest programs, if not the biggest, in the discretionary
category.
State legislators also know colleges have other sources of funds to turn to.
If youre a state legislator, you look at all your states programs and you say, Well, we
cant make prisoners pay, but we can make college students pay, said Ronald
Ehrenberg, the director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute and a trustee
of the State University of New York System.
College students do end up paying more. But in the past, after the economy recovered,
most states did not fully restore the funds that were cut. As cuts accumulated in each
business cycle, so did tuition increases.
Heres a chart showing whats happened to state support and actual tuition (what
students pay after receiving financial aid, not sticker price) over the last 25 years. It
presents just how much cost-shifting has been going on:
Sources: State Higher Education Executive OfficersFigures are per full-time equivalent
student, in constant 2010 dollars adjusted by SHEEO Higher Education Cost
Adjustment (HECA).
The trend does not look likely to reverse itself, either.
Sure, state tax revenues are growing again, but so are state spending obligations. States
will soon have to pay out trillions in public pensions for the retiring baby boomer
generation squeezing the funds for training the next generation of workers even more.
Wonkblog
The Tuition is Too Damn High, Part III The three

reasons tuition is rising
By Dylan Matthews August 28, 2013
Therearetwothingsthatcancausethenetpriceofcollegeforafamilytoincrease.Oneisthatthecollegespends
more.Thatcouldmeanpayingfacultymore,orbuildingmoresportsarenas,orconductingmoreresearch
whateverthereason,spendingrisesandtheyaskstudentsandtheirfamiliestopickupthetabintheformofhigher
tuitionand/orlowerfinancialaid.
Thesecondisthatthecollegeneedstoaskstudentstopaymoretofundcurrentspending.If,forinstance,state
governmentsweretocutsubsidiesforpubliccollegesanduniversities,thoseinstitutionscouldchoosetoraise
tuition(ratherthan,say,cutspendingorsolicitalumnidonations)tomakeupthedifference.Thisisacostshift.
Theanswerforhighered?Well,therearemanyanswers.
Thisisperhapsthesinglemostimportantthingtoknowaboutthehighereducationsector:Itsnotonething.
Communitycollegesarenotsufferingfromthesameproblemsasprivate,fouryearuniversities.Publicresearch
institutionsarenotinthesameboatasprivatemastersinstitutions.
Therearebasicallythreedifferentstorieshappening,tothreedifferentgroupsofschools.Allthedatahereisfrom
theDeltaCostProject,whichisthebestsourceofinformationoncollegespendingandrevenue.Itsnumbersare
basedontheDepartmentofEducationsIntegratedPostsecondaryEducationDataSystem(IPEDS),whichis
basicallytheonlysourceformostdataonhigheredbutwhichisnearlyimpossibleforlaymentonavigate.Deltas
beendoingyeomansworksummarizingwhatIPEDStellsus.
StoryOne:Soakingthestudents
Whatshappening:Lowerspending,andcostshiftsfromthegovernmenttostudents.
Whereisithappening:Publicschoolsthatarentbigresearchuniversities.
Numberofstudentsenrolled:6.7million(51.1percentofthe13.2millionstudentsforwhoseschoolDeltaCost
Projecthasdata.).
Explanation:Atpubliccollegesanduniversities,thestoryismostlythatstateshavecuthighereducationfunding,
andschoolsaremakingupforitwithincreasedtuition.
Publiccommunitycolleges,thelargestcategoryofhighereducationinstitution,haveseenreal,perfulltimestudent
spendingfallfrom2000to2010.Sotheyreactuallyspendingless.
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Andyet,overthatsameperiod,communitycollegessawtuitionrevenueperfulltimestudentincreasebyabout40.7
percentinrealterms.Perversely,thepowersthatbeatcommunitycollegeshavebeencuttingwhattheyspendon
students,andthenmakingthosestudentspayevenmoreforacheapertoproduceproduct.
Atpublicmastersandbachelorsschoolsthatis,publicinstitutionsthatoffertraditionalfouryearcurriculabut
arentresearchschoolsspendinghasbeenbasicallystagnantoverthepastdecade.Whatsmore,mostyearsinthe
2000sactuallysawspendingdeclinerelativeto2000,notincrease,eventhoughtuitionrose.
Theproblemattheseschoolsisnotoutofcontrolspending.Theissueisthattheschoolsaregettingmoneythey
usedtogetfromthegovernmentfromstudents,whichmakestheproductmoreexpensivetofamilieseventhough
overallcostsareunchangedor,inthecaseofcommunitycolleges,lower.
StoryTwo:Justthrowingmoneyaroundandgettingitfromwherever
Whatshappening:Spendingisincreasing,andsoistuition,butthetuitionincreasescantkeeppacewiththenew
spending.
Whereisithappening:Researchuniversities,bothpublicandprivate.
Numberofstudentsenrolled:4.7million(35.5percent).
Explanation:Between2000and2010,theaveragenettuitionthatis,thetuitionactuallypaidafterfinancialaidis
takenintoconsiderationatpublicresearchuniversities(thesecondbiggestcategoryofschoolbyenrollment)
increasedfrom$5,469to$8,611,adifferenceof$3,142.Theirspendingperfulltimestudentincreasedfrom
$33,208to$37,125,or$3,917.
Thiscan'tbeexplainedmerelybygovernmentpolicy.Theuniversitiesweren'tkeepingspendingthesameandjust
financingitthroughdifferentmeans.Stateandlocalsubsidiesfellby$1,732perfulltimestudentfrom2000to
2010,butfederalsubsidiesincreasedby$2,927perstudent,andprofitsfromassociatedendeavorslikehospitals
increasedby$1,952perstudent.
Infact,overallrevenueincreasedby$5,793perstudent,almostdoubletheincreaseinperstudentspending.Public
researchuniversitiescouldhavekepttuitionstagnantandstillhad$2,651moreperstudenttoworkwith,which
couldfinanceagoodshareoftheactualspendingincrease.Buttheywantedmoremoneythanthat,sotheyincreased
tuitiontoo.Costshifting,lawhatshappeningatotherpublicschools,doesn'treallyhaveanythingtodowiththe
increasesinpublicresearchuniversitytuition.
Meanwhile,privateresearchuniversitiesthinkGeorgetown,orHarvardspent$12,435moreperstudentin2010
thantheydidin2000,andcharged$3,209moreintuition.Justaswiththeirpublicresearchuniversity
counterparts,there'snocostshiftinggoingonhere,really.What'shappeningisahugeincreaseinspendingwith
tuitionactingasjustonetooltofundit.
StoryThree:Spendinghardbutsoakingstudentsevenharder
Whatshappening:Spendingisincreasing,andsoistuition,butthetuitionincreasesarebiggerthanthespending
increases.Theleftovermoneyisgoingtomakeupforlostdonationmoney.
Whereitishappening:Privatenonresearchcollegesanduniversities,suchasliberalartscolleges.
Numberofstudentsenrolled:1.8million(13.5percentpercentagesdontsumto100becauseofrounding).
Explanation:Atprivatemastersandbachelorsschoolsthatis,privateschoolsthatarentresearchinstitutions
andtypicallyofferatmostamastersoratmostabachelors,respectivelywhatsgoingonhassomethingin
commonwithbothoftheabovestories.
Between2000and2010,averagespendingperstudentatprivatemastersuniversitiesgrewby5.9percentinreal
terms,aprettymildincreasecomparedtoothercategories.
Revenuewhichincludestuition,butalsodonations,endowment,etc.hasalsobeenstagnant.Revenueper
studentwas$22,625in2000(in2010dollars),andbouncedaroundthatmarkthroughtherestofthedecade.But
tuitiongrew23.4percentbetween2000and2010,whichservedmainlytomakeupfordecliningdonationsand
endowmentrevenue(whichactuallywentnegativeatthenadiroftherecession).Averysimilarstorycanbeseenin
thedataonprivateliberalarts,orbachelors,schools,albeitwithasteeperincreaseinspending.
Aswiththeirpubliccounterparts,theseschoolsareprimarilyseeingcostshiftsratherthanspendingincreases,but
theirshiftsarefromdonorstostudents,ratherthanfromtaxpayerstostudents.
====
There'snosimpletakeawayhere.Butthreebroadtypesofproblemsemerge.Researchuniversitiesarejustspending
toomuch.Theyrespendingsomuchthateventheirrecordincreasesintuitioncantfullypayforit.Figuringout
whatsgoingwrongwiththementailsfiguringoutwhytheyrespendingsomuch,andwhythatspendinghasbeen
growing.
Butotherpublicuniversitiesare,forthemostpart,justusingtuitionincreasestoreplacemoneylostasstatescut
highereducationspending.Inthecaseofpubliccommunitycolleges,eventheirhugetuitionincreasesarentenough
toletspendingremainconstant.Evenwithhigherprices,theystillhavetocutspending.
Otherprivateschoolsareseeingamixofthetwophenomena.Atnonresearchprivateschools,spendingis
increasing,buttuitionisincreasingmore.Thatbothcoversthenewspendingandmakesupfordecliningrevenue
fromdonations.
Iftuitionincreasesaregoingtostop,mostpublicschoolsneedtofigureoutawaytogetthemoneytheywereonce
gettingfromstategovernmentwithoutjackingupprices.Welltacklethequestionofhowbesttodothatinthenext
installment.
Publicresearchuniversitiesandprivateschools,bycontrast,needtofigureouthowtogettheirspendingunder
control,andinthecaseofnonresearchprivateschoolsboostnontuitionrevenue.Partsfivethrougheightwill
examinetheoriesforwhytheirspendingissooutofcontrol,andhowbesttoreinitin.
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APRIL 6 2015 11:45 AM
The New York Times Oers One of the Worst Explanations Youll Read of Why
College Is So Expensive
By Jordan Weissmann
Students at the UCLA.

Photo by David McNew/Getty Images
Over the weekend, the New York Times managed to publish one of the most confused op-eds on the price of higher education that I've ever
had the displeasure of reading. Paul Campos, a law professor at the University of Colorado, would like us all to believe that college deans
who say they have to raise tuition because of government funding cuts are just bbing. "In fact, public investment in higher education in
America is vastly larger today, in ination-adjusted dollars, than it was during the supposed golden age of public funding in the 1960s," he
writes. According to Campos, the idea that a degree costs more because states have pulled back their help "ies directly in the face of the
facts."
Not really. There are a great number of complicated, interlocking reasons that a bachelor's degree costs so much more today than it used
to. And dwindling government subsidies are one of the key issues.
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Overall, public spending on higher education has, as Campos argues, risen dramatically over the long term. But so have the number of
Americans attending college. When administrators say that government support is shrinking, what they usually mean is that per student
appropriations have fallen. This is a crucial point. Someone has to foot the bill for each and every undergraduate's education. If taxpayers
don't do it, then families have to pick up the slack themselves.
Campos halfway understands this. "While state legislative appropriations for higher education have risen much faster than ination, total
state appropriations per student are somewhat lower than they were at their peak in 1990," the professor writes. But he attempts to scoot
around that fact with a rather poorly constructed analogy.
It is disingenuous to call a large increase in public spending a cut, as some university administrators do, because a huge programmatic expansion features somewhat lower
per capita subsidies. Suppose that since 1990 the government had doubled the number of military bases, while spending slightly less per base. A claim that funding for military
bases was down, even though in fact such funding had nearly doubled, would properly be met with derision.
The military base comparison is weak for a couple of reasons. First, it obscures more than it reveals. We worry about per-student funding in
higher ed because students pay tuition. Service members, of course, do not pay tuition, though they do draw a salary and would probably
be quite unhappy were their paychecks slashed. If that happened, some might reasonably be tempted to accuse the Pentagon of cutting
service member compensation, even while defense spending rose overall. Likewise, it's fair to worry about declining student subsidies, even
while total education spending heads higher. But Campos' point fails on a more basic level, too. If the U.S. government wanted to run its
military bases using slightly fewer personnel to save money, it might be able to do so. Sadly, nobody has yet gured out a way to run a
university using drastically fewer professors without sacricing some educational quality (and no, the Internet has not changed that). While
schools have managed to restrain their spending by paying masses of part-time adjunct faculty a pittance, the cost of instruction is still
going up. Until someone comes up with a brilliant strategy for making teaching a more ecient endeavor, the fact that states provide
colleges with a smaller sum of cash per student than they did 25 years ago will mean that, for all intents and purposes, education subsidies
have been cut. Academia is simply not prepared to do more with less.*
To his credit, Campos is at least gesturing towards an important point. Even in years when states increased their per-student education
spending, public colleges still raised their prices faster than ination. And while schools tend to up tuition when legislators cut their budgets,
they don't usually lower it when the subsidies get restored (see the graph below1). Instead, they lock in the extra revenue so that they can
spend more per undergrad. Where has that money gone? Here, Campos is more on point. As he writes, universities are spending an
increasing share of their budgets on administration. In other words, the bloat really has grown in higher ed, and it's costing students.
Andrew Gillen
But that doesn't change the fact that government cutbacks have contributed to the problem. There have been moments when university
proigacy has been the major driver of tuition increases. At others, contracting state support has played a critical role. This has especially
been the case in these days of post-recession budget austerity. Depending on who's calculating, states are giving schools somewhere
around 25 to 30 percent fewer dollars per student than they were 15 years ago. And someone has had to make up the dierence. Namely,
college kids.
1You
might notice that, contra Campos' article, the graph I've included shows per-student subsidies peaking in 2001, not 1990. I'm not really sure where
he got that 1990 was the high point. I'm using a graph by Education Sector that adjusts for ination using the Consumer Price Index. Some people rely
on numbers from the State Higher Education Executive Ocers, which use a idiosyncratic ination index specically designed for universities, but
they also put the peak at 2001. The College Board reaches a little further back and puts the high point in the mid 1980s.
*Update, April 6, 2015, 12:42 p.m.: I updated this paragraph to better spell out why Campos' military analogy doesn't really work. Frankly, the
original version was also too glib.
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9/24/2015
MarcoRubio'sEconomicPlanCallsForStudentsToSellThemselvesToPrivateInvestors|ThinkProgress
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POLITICS
Marco Rubios Economic Plan Calls For Students To

Sell Themselves To Private Investors
BY ALICE OLLSTEIN JUL 7, 2015 1:42PM
CREDIT: AP
Florida Senator and Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio described his economic platform
in a speech Tuesday in Chicago, touching on well-worn GOP priorities including slashing corporate
taxes from 35 to 25 percent, further deregulating the private sector, restricting family immigration,
and resisting calls to raise the minimum wage. Taking several specific shots at Democratic frontrunner
Hillary Clinton, Rubio said his plan would avoid pumping more of todays money into yesterdays
programs, and bring the U.S. into the future.
In the speech, Rubio also called for a revolutionized higher education system. If elected president,
he promised to bustthe cartel of existing colleges and universities by loosening the rules for
accreditation so that innovative, low-cost competitors can court students. But critics say the
government accreditation process is already far too loose, allowing predatory for-profit chains like
Corinthian Colleges to win federal approval and funding even as they mislead students into paying for
essentially worthless degrees.
He also touted the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act he co-sponsored with Oregon
Democrat Ron Wyden a plan extremely similar to one President Obama pushed for last year that
ranks colleges by how much their tuition costs and how much money their graduates make.
Lamenting the shadow of debt hovering over millions of graduates, Rubio then proposed a model
already suggested by his rival Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ): allowing rich individuals or hedge funds
to pay a students tuition and collect their investment back post-graduation.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/07/07/3677543/marcorubioseconomicplancallsstudentssellprivateinvestors/
1/7
9/24/2015
MarcoRubio'sEconomicPlanCallsForStudentsToSellThemselvesToPrivateInvestors|ThinkProgress
It may result in a profit for the investor or it may not but unlike with loans, none of the risk lies with
the student, Rubio said.
He expanded on this idea in a speech last year:
Lets say you are a student who needs $10,000 to pay for your last year of school. Instead of
taking this money out in the form of a loan, you could apply for a Student Investment Plan
from an approved and certified private investment group. In short, these investors would pay
your $10,000 tuition in return for a percentage of your income for a set period of time after
graduation lets say, for example, 4% a year for 10 years.
This group would look at factors such as your major, the institution youre attending, your
record in school and use this to make a determination about the likelihood of you finding a
good job and paying them back.
Unlike with loans, you would be under no legal obligation to pay back that entire $10,000.
Your only obligation would be to pay that 4% of your income per year for 10 years, regardless
of whether that ends up amounting to more or less than $10,000.
But these Student Investment Plans, which also have the Orwellian name human capital contracts,
raise many serious concerns. For one, investors may refuse to cover entire fields of students not likely
to bring in the big bucks after graduation, or would charge them a staggeringly high percentage of
their income. For those backing this plan, such as the conservative think tank American Enterprise
Institute (AEI), this poses no problem.
Isnt this unfair to those wanting to be librarians, teachers, social workers, etc., since they would
have to forego more of their incomes to satisfy the human capital contract? Not really, writes AEI
Adjunct Scholar Richard Vedder. Society puts a relatively low value on those jobs.
Additionally, following Rubios math of 4 percent over 10 years, a graduate would have to earn an
extremely low salary for the investor not to make a profit. Vedder and other advocates of the plan are
less cautious, and have voiced support for plans that take as high as 25 percent of a graduates salary
for multiple decades after they enter the workforce.
The National College Access Network and other groups have warned that such a plan could cost
students even more than high-interest federal loan programs, diverting away money those graduates
could have used to save for retirement or buy a house.
Rubios proposal is similar to the Pay It Forward, Pay It Back model currently being explored by the
state of Oregon with one crucial difference. In Oregons plan, the investor is the democraticallyelected state government, so when graduates repay their loans that money can go back into public
education. Under Rubios version, the money would go into the pockets of investors.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/07/07/3677543/marcorubioseconomicplancallsstudentssellprivateinvestors/
2/7
Business
College dropouts have debt but no degree

Correction:Anearlierversionofthisarticleincorrectlysaidthathalfofstudentswhotakeoutloanstoenrollin
twoyearforprofitcollegesneverfinish.Thestatisticappliestoborrowersatfouryearforprofitcolleges.The
articlealsomisstatedthenameoftheorganizationthatdidthestudy.ItistheEducationSector,nottheEducation
Trust.Thisversionhasbeencorrected.
By Ylan Q. Mui and Suzy Khimm May 28, 2012
Asthenationamassesmorethan$1trillioninstudentloans,educationexpertssayavexingnewproblemhas
emerged:Agrowingnumberofyoungpeoplehaveamountainofdebtbutnodegreetoshowforit.
Nearly30percentofcollegestudentswhotookoutloansdroppedoutofschool,upfromfewerthanaquarterof
studentsadecadeago,accordingtoarecentanalysisofgovernmentdatabythinktankEducationSector.College
dropoutsarealsoamongthemostlikelytodefaultontheirloans,fallingbehindataratefourtimesthatof
graduates.
Thatisraisingnewquestionsaboutthewisdomofdecadesofpublicpolicythatfocusedonincreasingaccessto
higherlearningbutpaidlessattentiontowhathappensoncestudentsarriveoncampus.Andsomeeducationexperts
havebeguntoarguethatstartingcollegeandgoingintodebttopayforitwithoutaclearplanforadiplomaisa
recipefordisaster.
Theyhavetheeconomicburdenofthedebtbuttheydonotgetthebenefitofhigherincomeandhigherlevelsof
employmentthatonegetswithacollegedegree,saidJackRemondi,chiefoperatingofficeratSallieMae,the
nationslargestprivatestudentlender.Accessandsuccessarenotlinkingup.
TheObamaadministrationsaysitistryingtoaddresstheissuebycouplingitsgoalofensuringthathighschool
studentsarepreparedforatleastoneyearofhighereducationwithnewtargetsforcollegegraduationrates.
Theplighto fnoncompletershasgrowninmagnitudeasstudentdebttops$1trillion,accordingtotheConsumer
FinancialProtectionBureau.Inaddition,thesputteringeconomyhasforcedagrowingnumberofstudentstomake
difficultchoicesbetweenthebenefitsofadegreeandtheburdenofpayingforit.Morestudentsarebalancingtheir
studieswithfullorparttimejobsorsigningupforareducedcourseloadtosavemoney,increasingthelikelihood
thattheywillnotgraduate.
Accordingtoa2009studybyPublicAgenda,halfofcollegedropoutssaidworkwasamajorfactorintheirdecision.
Onlyaquartersaidtheyhadspenttoomuchtimesocializing.
Money and time

Intheend,itsaboutmoneyandtime,saidAnthonyCarnevale,directoroftheCenteronEducationandthe
WorkforceatGeorgetownUniversity.Theresalmostasynergybetweenthetwothatwillknockyououtofschool.
Thecosttotheeconomyisroughlyhalfatrilliondollars,hesaid.Althoughcollegedropoutsmakemorethanthose
withonlyahighschooldiploma,hesaidtheyearnaboutamilliondollarslessthancollegegraduatesovertheir
careers.
MalainieSmithspentayearatasmallliberalartscollegeinMassachusettsbeforedecidingtogotonursingschool.
ShewashalfwaythroughherprogramatSimmonsCollegeinBostonwhenshetookwhatshethoughtwouldbea
breakofonesemester.Whenshetriedtoreturn,shefoundshecouldnolongergetaloan.
SmithsaidthatleftherinaCatch22situation.Shehadtoquitschoolbutstillowedabout$100,000totheVermont
StudentAssistanceCorp.(VSAC),apublicnonprofitstudentlender.Hermonthlypaymentsareabout$400.Three
yearsaftersheleftSimmons,sheisnowawaitressarecentpromotionfromherpositionasahostess.
Imnotgettinghighend
payingjobs,Smithsaid.Theresmorepotentialthanthis.
ScottGiles,avicepresidentatVSAC,saidhecouldnotdiscussthedetailsofSmithssituation,citingprivacyreasons.
Buthesaidthelenderoftenusestheflexibilityofitsstatusasapublicnonprofittoaccommodatestudentsinneed.
Wewantallofthesepeopletonotonlygetintoschoolbutactuallycomplete,hesaid.Webendoverbackwardsto
tryandmakesurethatthatspossible.
Still,Gilessaidpartofhisorganizationsmissionistoensurethatstudentshavethechancetogotocollege,even
thoughitknowsthatsomeofthemwillneverfinish.Thebenefitsmaytakeagenerationtoplayout,hesaid:
Studentswhoseparentsattendedatleastsomecollegearemorelikelytoenrollthemselves,accordingtohisgroups
research.
Therearewaysinwhichtheaccessagendaandthecompletionagendaareatodds,hesaid.Folkshavedefined
failuretoobtainadegreeasjustthatfailure.Butthatdoesntnecessarilymeanthattheresourcesyouputinto
thatstudentuptothatpointwerewasted.
Burgeoning for-profit sector

Collegeenrollmenthasswelledby38percentduringthepastdecadetomorethan20million,accordingto
governmentdata.Butlawmakersandregulatorshavebeguncastingawaryeyeontheburgeoningmarketoffor
profitinstitutionswithlowgraduationratesandhighstudentdebtloads.
AccordingtoMarkKantrowitz,astudentloanexpertandfounderofFinAid.org,studentswhoreceiveabachelors
degreefromaforprofitcollegewillhaveanaveragedebtofmorethan$41,000.Studentsgraduatingfrompublic
universitiesareexpectedtohaveroughlyhalfthatdebt.
Notonlydotheirstudentsamassmoredebt,butforprofitcollegesalsosawthebiggestjumpinborrowerswho
dropout,althougheverytypeofinstitutionsawincreases.AstudybytheEducationSectorfoundthatmorethan
halfofstudentswhotakeoutloanstoenrollinfouryearforprofitcollegesneverfinish.Attraditionalnonprofit
andpublicschools,thepercentageofstudentswithloanswhostartedcollegein2003anddroppedoutwithinsix
yearsisabout20percent.
Bycomparison,about8percentofAmericansbetweentheagesof16and24donthaveahighschooldegree,
accordingtogovernmentdata.
AscollegebecameamassinstitutioninAmerica,itstartedlookinglikehighschool.Butunlikehighschool,wedidnt
buildasystemthatwasdesignedtokeeppeoplein,Carnevalesaid.Ifwehada40percentdropoutrateinhigh
school,wedthinkwewereinanationalcrisis.
(ThePostCo.ownstheforprofiteducationcompanyKaplan,Inc.,whichprovidesmorethanhalfoftheparent
companysrevenue.)
TheObamaadministrationsaidithasmadeincreasingthecollegegraduationrateby2020oneofitstopeducational
priorities.Someschoolshavealsotriedtostreamlinemajorsandcourseofferingstohelpensurestudentsstayon
track.Educationexpertssaythatmanystudentsarenotpreparedforthemorerigorouscourseworkincollege,and
thatmanyschoolsdonotofferenoughguidanceforyoungpeopletryingtonavigatethefirststepsoftheiradult
lives.Asaresult,studentsmaynotseethepayoffinfinishingcollege.
MarianCastelliofConnecticutsaidherdaughterdroppedoutoftheUniversityofHartfordafteroneyear,inpart
becauseshewasrackingupmoredebtthanshethoughtshecouldafford.Herdaughterstudieddanceperformance
andwasonthedeanslistbutsufferedmultipleinjuries.Andwithtuitionof$20,000ayear,everydaymattered.
Castellisaidsherecalledherdaughtertellingher,IdontthinkIwanttogobacktocollege.IdontknowhowIdever
payoff$80kindebtwithafouryeardegree.
Castelliresponded,Icouldntarguewiththat.
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Ylan Q. Mui is a financial reporter at The Washington Post covering the Federal Reserve and
the economy.
College Textbooks Could Be Free

Under Legislation Introduced In
Congress
The Huffington Post | By Tyler Kingkade
Posted: 11/27/2013 5:12 pm EST Updated: 12/02/2013 8:25 am EST
Legislation introduced in Congress could make buying expensive textbooks a thing of the
past.
The bill sponsored by by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) would create
a grant program for colleges and universities to "create and expand the use of textbooks that
can be made available online" and offered with free access to the public. Students -- and
anyone else for that matter -- would have access to digital textbooks and not be bound to
buying the latest edition stocked in a campus bookstore.
The bill, named the "Affordable College Textbook Act," was filed by Durbin and Franken
earlier this month. A complementary bill was drafted in the House by Reps. Rubn Hinojosa
(D-Texas) and George Miller (D-Calif.).
Durbin cited the success of a $150,000 grant to the University of Illinois for its Open Source
Textbook Initiative. Thanks to the grant, UI faculty were able to develop a book that's
available to anyone for free and can be updated when new information becomes available.
Similar results were achieved at the University of California-Davis as a result of a $250,000
grant from the National Science Foundation.
"This bill can replicate and build on this success and help make the cost of attending college
more affordable," Durbin said in a statement.
One of the problems with traditional textbooks is that an added chapter can render an
edition worthless, preventing students from saving money by buying used copies.
The cost of college textbooks increased 812 percent since 1978, or three times the rate of
inflation, according to data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor
Statistics analyzed by University of Michigan economist Mark Perry. A Government
Accountability Office report found college textbook prices went up 82 percent in just the
past 10 years.
As a result, seven out of 10 undergraduates admit to skimping out on purchasing at least
one textbook, according to a 2011 survey by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
The legislation also calls for a report from the U.S. Department of Education to the Senate's
education committee by mid-2016 detailing adoption of open textbooks and how much it
saves students. By July 2017, the Comptroller General of the United States would have to
submit a report on what has caused changes to price of college textbooks and the impact
open textbooks would have on the cost of regular, traditional ones.
"The dirty secret about textbooks is that they don't have to be so expensive given the rise of
technology," said Matthew Segal, co-founder of OurTime.org, which endorses the bill. "Even
worse, if you put textbook debt in larger context with student debt, the affordability of
college is becoming less and less tenable, and, as a result, the American dream is becoming
more difficult for the next generation to attain."
Katherine Burkhart
Student Loan Interest Rate Deal Does

Little To Help Low-Income College
Students
Posted: 08/07/2013 4:00 pm EDT Updated: 08/07/2013 4:00 pm EDT
WASHINGTON -- Regardless of whether Congress can pass legislation to address the rise in
interest rates on federally subsidized student loans, it will be small consolation for those
college students who are homeless or unable to afford food.
Following weeks of heated rhetoric surrounding the doubling of interest rates to 6.8
percent on subsidized Stafford loans, a bipartisan bill passed the House last week. The
White House-endorsed deal ties interest rates to financial markets, allowing undergraduate
students to borrow at 3.9 percent interest for the 2013-14 school year, though the rate may
climb in the future.
"The student loan interest rate debate has really been about ameliorating a small symptom
of a much larger disease," said Michael Dannenberg, director of higher education policy
at the Education Trust. "And the disease is that college costs too damn much."
The cost of tuition at four-year institutions grew an average 6.7 percent and at two-year
schools by 7.4 percent between the 2011-12 and 2012-13 academic years, according to a
report published by the National Center for Education Statistics, a rate more than twice that
of inflation. But also on the rise are fees for on-campus housing and meal plans, both of
which are frequently required for students, particularly incoming freshmen.
On average, room and board prices surpassed the cost of in-state tuition at public
institutions, adding $8,652 to students' financial load, the NCES reports. Coupled with
additional costs like transportation, most public college students can expect to pay $10,000
more than suggested by their institution's sticker price, and institutions across the country
are seeing a growing demand for help in the form of emergency housing and on-campus
food bank resources.
During the 2010-11 school year alone, over 33,000 students self-identified as homeless on
the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, the Palm Beach Post reported. Because
universities often rely on students to provide information about their off-campus living
arrangements, data on the number of homeless college students is difficult to collect, but
some college communities are organizing to help in the absence of governmental support.
One such organization is the Human Services Resource Center at Oregon State University.
Program coordinator Clare Cady explained that the student-proposed initiative has served
since 2010 as a way to unite and mobilize a number of programs for low-income students on
campus.
"Not everybody could make ends meet ... and you can't be successful in school if you don't
have access to even the most basic resources," Cady said.
While emergency housing resources, food stamp applications and subsidies for meals and
health insurance are available, the HSRC is perhaps best known in the area for its
emergency food bank.
"The number of people we serve has increased each year," said Lydia Elliott, OSU food
pantry coordinator. "In the past year alone, we were able to serve 2,583 people from 1,083
households."
Becca Seul, an academic adviser at Middle Tennessee State University, is similarly charged
with the task of supporting students with the highest levels of need on campus.
"Since August 2011, we've had roughly 70 students verified, by federal definition, as
homeless or at risk of homelessness," Seul said. "More and more 'unaccompanied' students
were entering college, and many are barely able to get enough aid to attend, much less feed
themselves."
Seul explained "the pantry began because I saw the need increase." MTSU's pantry, stocked
entirely by donations, has distributed over 3,700 pounds of food since October 2012.
According to Seul, "the support for low-income students is definitely growing at MTSU,
[but] we are often heartbroken that the need even exists."
For the most financially disadvantaged students, who often have challenges with college
access, the expense is simply the next hurdle in a series. Not only are low-income students
disproportionately affected by the high cost of attending college, but they also encounter
significant obstacles to enrolling in the first place.
A student's family income is closely tied to SAT scores, College Board data reveals, putting
low-income students at a marked disadvantage. For these students, logistical obstacles often
persist even after they have been admitted to college, Harvard University researchers
Benjamin Castleman and Lindsay Page found.
Page and Castleman have extensively researched "summer melt," the phenomenon
describing students' failure to appear on the campus of the college to which they have
committed.
"In the summer in between high school graduation and college enrollment, there are a
number of tasks that kids need to attend to," Page explained. "Nobody 'owns' them and is
thinking about the support that students might need, [so] they have no designated
institutional support for completing those tasks."
This lack of support is particularly problematic for first-generation college students, Page
said, as their familial and social networks have little knowledge of processes like waiving
insurance requirements or applying for appropriate aid packages.
Working alongside uAspire, a college affordability program headquartered in Boston,
Castleman and Page found the vast majority of topics on which students seek help are issues
related to college financing. But there's still much room for policymakers to work on
improving college affordability beyond the relatively minor student loan interest rate deal,
Castleman said.
"[The deal is] built on this assumption that when the interest rate changes, students and
their families are going to be aware of what that means, and ... will understand when they
have to pay, what they have to pay and how much they have to pay," Castleman explained.
"We need to be focusing on getting students quality and simplified information, so they are
able to access help when they need it."
Matthew Segal, president of millennial advocacy organization OurTime.org, pointed out
that other large consumer purchases often come with that type of disclosure.
"When you shop for any other good, be it a car or a home, you're given information as a
consumer about what you're buying," Segal said. "But colleges aren't always disclosing
statistics about things like the average level of student debt. So students can't 'shop for
colleges' to make an informed choice, like they would for any other major purchase."
Segal agreed that congressional fixation on student loan interest rates, "while important for
future debt levels, is -- in contrast with the larger issue of college cost -- really a distraction."
POLITICO
Pell grad rates revealed
By CAITLIN EMMA
09/24/15, 10:04 AM EDT
PELL GRAD RATES REVEALED: Data in a new report [http://bit.ly/1NMNFsh] on the
graduation rates of Pell grant recipients deliver a powerful blow to those who question
whether taxpayer dollars are being wasted, or whether most low-income students are
even capable of completing college, the authors say. The Education Trust examined
Pell graduation rates at 1,149 four-year public and private nonprofit schools, and found
that at the institutional level, the average graduation gap between Pell and non-Pell
recipients is 5.7 percentage points. More than a third of the colleges have smaller gaps
or no gap. But at the national level, Andrew H. Nichols of Ed Trust notes, the graduation
rate for Pell recipients is still just 51 percent 14 percentage points lower than the nonPell rate.
To close the larger national gap, Nichols said, will require addressing an even
more challenging matter -- enrollment stratification. Pell students are twice as likely as
their peers to enroll in non-selective colleges that have very low graduation rates. Even
institutions with similar missions and student demographics may have vastly different
graduation results, Nichols says. His year-long research looked at data from state
higher education systems, individual colleges, U.S. News and World Report and IPEDS.
While the new College Scorecard includes some outcomes data for Pell recipients, it
omits students who dont receive federal aid, making good equity comparisons
impossible, Ed Trust says. The group wants the feds to require colleges to regularly
report Pell grantee graduation rates.
Speaking of the scorecard, the Postsecondary Data Collaborative, which includes
about two dozen education and research groups (including Ed Trust), said Wednesday
that while the new data published in the tool are "of critical importance," improvement
and expansion are imperative. The solution? A student unit record system, of course.
Solving the College Affordability

Crisis Requires Yanking at the
Root
Published on Feb 11, 2015 by Andrew Nichols
Last week, a POLITICO Magazine article called attention to the annual re-estimate of the federal
student loan program. Apparently, the feds expect to earn $22 billion less than expected on
student loan payments, which was the result of an unexpected uptick in the number of student
loan borrowers taking advantage of the Obama administrations debt-relief programs. While
efforts to assist struggling borrowers are needed, it is important to acknowledge that these debtrelief programs only address the symptoms of the college affordability crisis. They ignore the
root cause.
Many think that the primary cause of escalating tuition and fee increases is the result of rampant
spending in higher education. And they are not wrong, at least if they are thinking about private,
four-year colleges and universities where annual increases typically exceed the rate of inflation.
However, out-of-control spending is not to blame at public, four-year colleges and universities.
The real culprit there is declining state support for higher education, which has shifted costs once
borne by taxpayers onto the backs of students and families.
Not too long ago, attendance at a public institution was relatively affordable, primarily because
state governments picked up much of the tab through direct funding provided to institutions. But,
oh, how the times have changed. In 1988, net tuition or payments from students and families
only accounted for nearly 24 percent of higher education revenue nationwide; today it
accounts for nearly 48 percent. As you can see from the chart below, net tuition contributes
roughly 85 percent of total higher education revenue in states like New Hampshire and Vermont
and more than 60 percent in 13 other states.
Obtaining a postsecondary degree or credential has significant personal benefit, no question
about it. But we cant forget that there are significant societal, or public, benefits as well.
Society cant function without teachers, engineers, scientists, and doctors whose work, in most
instances, enhances all of our lives. College-educated citizens are also more likely to be engaged
civically and less likely to rely on public assistance programs while contributing more money
to the tax base.
These social benefits demand a considerable public investment from the states. When states fail
to pay their fair share, the cost burden gets disproportionately shifted to students and families,
who increasingly rely on loans to foot the bill. And when they are unable to repay these loans,
the federal government has to bail out borrowers with taxpayer money. This means that
taxpayers in states that already invest heavily in higher education end up paying twice, as their
tax dollars could cross-subsidize borrowers in other states where college is less affordable
because of declining state support.
We know that high college costs can have disproportionate effects on low-income students, as
sticker shock can prevent them from even applying to some schools. Even with need-based
financial support, low-income students too often receive financial aid packages that either a)
require them to payincomprehensible percentages of their family income to attend college or
b) fail to meet the full cost of attendance even when loans are considered. Ultimately, these
realities affect access and completion, influencing students decisions to enroll, persist, or seek
other options.
As Congress likely gears up to reauthorize the Higher Education Act this year, we hope members
can figure out a way to leverage the federal investment in higher education to beef up states
funding for public colleges and universities. This is key to fixing the college affordability crisis.
Several higher education policy organizations, including Ed Trust, have put forward bold policy
solutions that can helpmake college more affordable, particularly for low-income students and
families who are most likely to default. But will policymakers find the courage to act and yank
out the root?
9/24/2015
OregonpassesfreecommunitycollegebillascongressionalDemocratsintroducefederalversion
(https://www.insidehighered.com)
Oregonpassesfreecommunitycollegebillascongressional
Democratsintroducefederalversion
SubmittedbyPaulFainonJuly9,20153:00am
PresidentObamaspushforfreecommunitycollegehasyettobeshuntedasidebythedebtfree
collegeideashisaspiringDemocraticsuccessorsaretalkingup.
OregonnowispoisedtofollowTennessee[1] asthesecondstatewithaplanonthebookstoprovide
freetwoyearcollege.AndDemocratsintheU.S.SenateandHouseofRepresentativesintroduced
billsWednesdaythatseektomakeObamasfederalproposal[2] areality.Theproposedlegislation[3]
lacksanyRepublicansupport,however,sothebillsareunlikelytogoanywhere.
YettheOregonPromise[4] ,whichtheLegislaturepassedlastweek[5] andwhichGovernorKate
Brown,aDemocrat,isexpectedtosign,isanindicationthattheconceptoffreecommunitycollege
hassomemomentum.
MarkHass,aDemocraticstatesenatorinOregon,proposedthelegislation[6] .Itsalastdollarplan,
whichmeansthestatewillspend$10millionayeartofillinthetuitiongapsthatstateandfederalaid
dontcover.
However,alleligiblestudentswillreceiveaminimumgrantof$1,000eveniftheirtuitionfeesare
coveredbyaid.Andafterthegrantisappliedtotuition,anyleftoverOregonPromisedollarscanbe
usedfortransportation,booksandotherexpenses,saidofficialswiththestate'sHigherEducation
CoordinatingCommission.Thegrantcouldalsofreeupfederalaidthatstudentscoulduseforother
expenses.Clickhereforafactsheet[7] abouttheplan.(Note:Thisparagraphhasbeenchanged
fromanearlierversiontoincorporatenewinformationfromthecommission.)
Oregonalsowillspendanew$7milliononrelatedstudentsuccessandcompletionprograms,which
highereducationleadersinthestatecalledamuchneededandwelcomemove.Thenewmoneyis
partofalargefundingboost[8] forhighereducationinOregon.
Inhiswrittentestimony[9] aboutthefreecommunitycollegebill,Hassarguedthatmakingcommunity
collegefreeisabold,visionaryidea.Itwouldhelpthe70,000peopleinthestatewhoarebetween
theagesof18and24andhavenojoborhighereducation,hesaid,bybetterenablingthemtoenter
theworkforce.
https://www.insidehighered.com/print/news/2015/07/09/oregonpassesfreecommunitycollegebillcongressionaldemocratsintroducefederal?width=775&he
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Thelegislationcouldalsodirectmorefederalaidtothestate,saidHass,byincreasingcommunity
collegeenrollmentandstudentapplicationsforfinancialaid.
WeliketostudythingsinOregon.Andforthelasttwoyears,wehavebeenstudyinghowtomake
thishappenhere,Hasssaid.UndertheObamaadministration,fundingforPellGrantshas
doubled.ItwouldbesmartforOregontotakeadvantageofthosedollars.
TheWhiteHousehassaiditwantstoencourageabroadshiftinthewaystateandlocallawmakers,
businessleadersandthegeneralpublicviewcommunitycollege.Givenincreasingdemandfor
workerswithatleastacertificateorassociatedegree,theadministrationsgoalisforpublicfunding
tocoveraK14educationthatisopentoall.
Thepresidenthasputastakeinthegroundtosayeducationafterhighschoolshouldbeagiven,
justasK12educationisacivilright,MarthaKanter,aprofessorofhighereducationatNewYork
UniversityandformerU.S.undersecretaryofeducation,saidinaninterview[10] withInsideHigher
Edacouplemonthsago.It'salwaysbeencalledapromise,butfortoomanypeoplethepromise
wasnotdelivered.
TheObamaplan,whichisdubbedAmericasCollegePromise,hasitscritics[11] .Somedontlikethe
stringsthatwouldcomewiththemoney.Forexample,theproposalincludesunspecifiedfederal
performanceindicatorsandarequirementthatcollegesadoptevidencebasedinstitutionalreforms
toimprovestudentoutcomes.
Toconservatives,thefreecommunitycollegeprogramlookslikeafederaltakeoverofthetwoyear
sector.
BillHaslam,TennesseesRepublicangovernor,whoplayedabigroleincreatingtheTennessee
Promise[1] ,hasarguedthatstateprogramsareabetterwaytogothanafederalfreecommunity
collegeplan.BackingthatcallhasbeenSenatorLamarAlexander,theTennesseeRepublicanwho
leadstheSenateseducationcommittee.
ButtheObamaadministrationhasntletupatthestateandlocallevel,either.Kanterhashelped
lead[10] whatobserverssayisanadministrationbackedfullcourtpresstobuildsupportforabroad
rangeoffreecommunitycollegeplans.
Resultsarestartingtoemerge.TheCommunityCollegeofPhiladelphia[12] andHarperCollege[13] ,a
twoyearinstitutionlocatedinIllinois,recentlyannouncedtuitionfreeplans,joiningonetheCity
CollegesofChicago[14] createdlastyear,whichtheWhiteHousehastouted.
Likewise,Minnesota[15] beganapilotprogramforfreetechnicalcollege,andWashington,D.C.[16] ,is
mullingafreecommunitycollegeplan.ButOregonisthefirststatetofollowTennesseebyjumping
inwithabroadstatewideprogram.
ItscertainlyagreatopportunityforOregontohelpleadtheway,saidBenCannon,executive
directorofthestatesHigherEducationCoordinatingCommission.
ThebigkahunawouldbeCaliforniaandits112communitycolleges,whichenroll2.1million
students.Fillinginthegapbetweenstateandfederalaidalsowouldntbeahugestretchin
California,whichisflushwithtaxrevenue.Andcommunitycollegetuitioninthestatehaslongbeen
relativelyinexpensive.
SourcessaidconversationshaveoccurredwithCalifornialawmakersandhighereducationofficials
aboutafreecommunitycollegeplan.Butnothinghasemergedyet.
NewFeatures
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Oregonslegislationwouldcapspendingonthefreecommunitycollegesubsidyat$10milliona
year.Incontrast,Tennesseecreateda$360millionendowmenttopayforthe$34millionestimated
annualcostofitsplan,andtoprotectthatstreamofmoneyfromthevicissitudesofeconomic
downturnsandnewlawmakers.
TheOregonplanwontcoverstudentdemand,aslawmakersandcommunitycollegeofficials
acknowledge.Butthebillincludesfeaturestocopewiththeshortfall,whichhavewonpraisefrom
highereducationexperts.
Theminimum$1,000grantforeachqualifyingstudent,whichthestatesOfficeofStudentAccess
andCompletionwilladminister,helpssolvetheproblemofafreetuitionplanandadditionalstate
fundingthatcouldbenefitwealthierstudentsratherthantheneediestones,whoaremorelikelyto
qualifyforPellGrantsandotheraid.
ForastudentwhogetsthefullPell,theyllalsogetsomemoneyleftoverforbooksandliving
expenses,"saidAndreaHenderson,executivedirectoroftheOregonCommunityCollege
Association.
SaraGoldrickRab,aprofessorofeducationalpolicystudiesandsociologyattheUniversityof
WisconsinatMadison,testifiedbeforetheOregonLegislatureinFebruary.
"Thisbillwillbenefitlowandmoderateincomestudentsinrealandmeasurablewaysitwill
increasetheirratesofenrollmentincollege,boosttheirpersistenceandmayalsoincreasetheir
graduationrates,"shesaidinherpreparedstatement[17] ."Rigorousstudieshaveshownthat
reducingthecostofcommunitycollegebyeven$1,000ayearresultsinsubstantialincreases
acrosstheboard."
AswiththeTennesseePromiseandObamasproposal,Oregon'splanincludesseveraleligibility
requirementsforstudents.Theymustberesidentsofthestateforayear,holdahighschooldiploma
oritsequivalent,andhaveearnedahighschoolgradepointaverageofatleast2.5.
Recipientsofthegrantmustenrollindegree,transferorcareeracademictracksatanOregon
communitycollegewithinsixmonthsofgraduatingfromhighschool.Theycanthaveearnedmore
than90collegecredits,andmustmaintaina2.5GPAtoremaineligible.
Studentswillberequiredtokickina$50pertermcopay.Thenewstategrantswillcovertheprice
offulltime,fullyearcommunitycollegetuition,whichisabout$4,900,minuswhateverstateand
federalaidisreceivedwiththeminimumgrantbeing$1,000.
Hendersonsaidcommunitycollegeleadershadgraveconcernsaboutearlyversionsofthefree
communitycollegeplanthatbegancirculatinginthestatehousetwoyearsago.Shesaidthefirst
ideastoemergeweremandatesforthestate'salreadyunderfundedcommunitycollegestocut
tuition.
Sincethenboththeproposalandthestatefundingsituationhaveimproved,withOregons
communitycollegesreceivinga22percentincreaseintheirstatecontributionthisbiennium.
Hendersonsaidonekeychangeinthebillisthatthegrantwillbeadministeredaspartofthe
financialaidprocessratherthanasatuitiondiscount.
Thecollegesarentonthehookforawaiver,shesaid.
Anotherbigsellingpointforthebillistheaccompanying$7millionOregonponieduptohelp
recipientsgettograduation.Thatmoneycouldgotowardstudentcoachingandcounseling,said
Cannon,aswellastocollegereadinessprogramsinK12schools.(Thefundinghasyettobe
allocated,andthecommissionmustproposetotheLegislaturehowtospendit.)Thestatealsowill
spendanew$1.5milliononcollegeadvising.
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OregonsHigherEducationCoordinatingCommissionwillhaveflexibilityunderthefreecommunity
collegebilltodirectmoneytowardprioritystudents.
Wereunlikelytobeabletoservetheentirestate,Cannonsaid.Butbeingabletotargetthemoney
tocertainhighschoolswillhelpthecommissionensurethatitishelpingacrosssectionofOregon,
includingruralandurbandistrictsandstudentsthatneedthemosthelp.
TheFederalVersion
Meanwhile,DemocratsinCongressonWednesdayintroducedlegislation[3] basedonPresident
Obamasfreecommunitycollegeproposal.
Inunveilingthebill,whichstandslittlechanceofpassingtheRepublicancontrolledCongress,
EducationSecretaryArneDuncansaiditwouldbuildonthemomentumwereseeingacrossthe
countryandacrossthepoliticalspectrumwithlocalandstateeffortstoreducethecostofcommunity
collegesandexpandcollegeaffordability.
DuncancitedMinnesota,Oregon,HarperCollegeandtheCommunityCollegeofPhiladelphiaas
examplesofagrowingmovement.
AsObamaproposed,theCongressionalbillwouldcreateamatchinggrantwherethefedswould
kickin$3forevery$1participatingstatesspendtowardwaivingcommunitycollegetuitionandfees
foreligiblestudents.Itwouldafirstdollarprogram,meaningthattuitionandfeeswouldbewaived
beforeotherformsofstateandfederalaidareapplied.
Thefreecommunitycollegelegislationwouldcost$90billionoverthenextdecade,anincreasefrom
the$60billionpricetagtheadministrationcitedearlierthisyear.
Partofthelegislationsestimated$90billioncostincludesaproposalforanew$10billionfederal
grantprogramforhistoricallyblackcollegesanduniversitiesandotherminorityservinginstitutions.
Underthebill,thefederalgovernmentwouldpaythefirsttwoyearsoftuitionandfeesoflowincome
studentswhoattendminorityservinginstitutionsthatenrolllargenumbersoflowincomestudents.
TheHouseversionhas61cosponsors,allDemocrats,whiletheSenateversionhas10Democratic
cosponsors.
WestronglysupportstructuringthisprogramtosupportlowincomePellGrantstudentsby
preservingtheavailabilityoftheawardforfullcostofattendance.Thiswillallowstudentstoborrow
less,andpotentiallypersistatafasterrate,saidNoahBrown,presidentandCEOoftheAssociation
ofCommunityCollegeTrustees,inawrittenstatement.Additionally,wesupportrequirementsthat
ensurestatescontinuetoinvestinhighereducation.
MichaelStratfordcontributedtothisarticle.
CommunityColleges[18]
SourceURL:https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/07/09/oregonpassesfreecommunitycollegebillcongressional
democratsintroducefederal?width=775&height=500&iframe=true
Links:
[1]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/08/26/billhaslamsfreecommunitycollegeplanandhowtennessee
grabbingspotlighthigher
[2]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/01/09/whitehouseplanstaketennesseepromisenational
[3]http://democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/sites/democrats.edworkforce.house.gov/files/201507
08%20H.R.%202962_America%E2%80%99s%20College%20Promise%20Act%20of%202015.pdf
[4]https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2015R1/Measures/Overview/SB81
[5]http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog33425oregon_will_become_second_state_to_offer_free_community_college.html
[6]https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2015R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB81
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Republicanpresidentialcandidatesbegingettingintotheweeds
Republicanpresidentialcandidatesbegingettingintothe
weeds
SubmittedbyPaulFainonSeptember10,20153:00am
TheleadingDemocraticpresidentialhopefulshaveunveiled[1] complexandexpensive
proposalsformakingcollegemoreaffordable.TheirRepublicancounterparts,however,havelargely
avoidedthewonkiersideofhighereducationpolicyintheirspeechifying,withtheexception[2] of
SenatorMarcoRubio.
Thatappearstobechanging.SeveralothercandidatesfortheRepublicannominationhavebegun
weighinginoncollegeissuesthatwereoncerelegatedtothelikesofInsideHigherEd,The
ChronicleofHigherEducationoranoccasionalNewYorkTimesthinkpiece.
JebBush,theformerFloridagovernorwithafamiliarlastname,haspledgedtoreleaseabroad
collegeaffordabilityplaninOctober.OtherRepublicanhopefulsarelikelytofollowsuit.Buthereare
afewideasBushandothershavediscussedinthemeantime.
FreeCommunityCollege
BushopposestheObamaadministrationsproposal[3] tomaketwoyearsofcommunitycollegefree
nationwide.Hehassaid[4] thatpromisingtogiveawayfreestuffispolldrivenandagreatsound
bite.However,BushrecentlysaidhesupportsTennesseesstaterunversion[5] offreecommunity
college,whichObamaalsohaspraised.
TherearegreatprogramsaroundthecountryoneoftheonesImostadmireisaprojectcalled
TennesseePromise,whereeverystudentthatparticipatesgetstheircommunitycollegeeducation,
atleastforthefirsttwoyears,debtfree,freeoftuition,BushsaidinlateAugust,accordingtoThe
Hill[6] .
AcampaignspokeswomansubsequentlytoldTheHillthatBushsupportsastatesrighttoinnovate
andfindsolutionstooureducationchallenges.
SkinintheGame
Inthesamepublicappearance,theformerFloridagovernoralsosaidhesupportssomeformofrisk
sharinginhighereducation.Policymakersonbothsidesoftheaislesupportversionsofthatidea[7] ,
https://www.insidehighered.com/print/news/2015/09/10/republicanpresidentialcandidatesbegingettingweeds?width=775&height=500&iframe=true
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includingSenatorLamarAlexander,theTennesseeRepublicanwholeadstheSenateseducation
committee,andSenatorElizabethWarren,theinfluentialDemocratfromMassachusetts.
OtherRepublicanhopefulshavesaidtheysupportthisformofaccountabilityforhighereducation,
includingGovernorScottWalkerofWisconsinandBenCarson,theretiredneurosurgeonwhohas
hadarecentbumpinpolls.
Bushdidntsaymuchsaymuchabouthisvisionforskininthegame,butlinkedtheconceptto
fouryeargraduationrates.
Ifkidscantgraduatewithafouryeardegreeinfouryears,thereoughttobesomepaybacktotheir
familiesortothem,Bushsaid,accordingtoTheHill[6] ,ortheresgottobesomesupportforthe
loanstheyvetakenout.
Bushhasrepeatedlycitedastatisticthat60percentofcollegegraduatestakemorethanfouryears
tocompleteafouryeardegree,astheYoungInvincibleshasnoted[8] .(Socalledontimegraduation
ratesstoodat40percent[9] in1958,soapparentlynotmuchhaschanged.Expertsprefertousesix
yearrates,whichare55percentoverall,according[10] totheNationalStudentClearinghouse
ResearchCenter.)
Tworeasonsforrelativelylowgraduationrates,Bushsaid,accordingtoBloomberg[11] ,arethatit
canbehardforstudentstogetallthecoursestheyneed,andbecausecollegesdonotofferenough
upfrontcounselingforstudentstohelpensurethattheycompletetheircoursework.
DebtForgiveness
JohnKasich,Ohiosgovernor[12] andacandidatefortheRepublicannomination,mentionedthe
issueofdebtreliefduringarecentcampaignappearanceinNewHampshire.Thattopichasbecome
ahighprofileone[13] amongsomeDemocrats,whohavesoughttohavefederalloansforgivenfor
studentswhoattendedthecollapsedCorinthianColleges,aforprofitchain.
Kasichbrieflymentionedtheconceptthismonth,accordingtoTheColumbusDispatch[14] .Butdebt
forgivenesswouldcomewithstrings,hesaid,notingthattheplanheisconsideringwouldlet
studentsdosomehardworktogetrelieffromcollegedebt.
EliminatingtheEducationDepartment
AtimehonoredtraditionoftheRepublicanprimaryisforcandidatestocallfortheU.S.Department
ofEducationtobeabolished.Thiscampaignisnoexception.
MikeHuckabee,theformerArkansasgovernor,saidhewantstonixtheEducationDepartmentas
partofhisplan[15] totackletheestablishmentandreformourcollegesanduniversitiessothey
makesenseforthejobsoftomorrow.
Likewise,DonaldTrump,therealestatemagnateandrealitytelevisionstarwhosofarleadsinthe
Republicanprimarypolls,alsohastakenonthedepartment.Yethedidntgoasfarassomeofhis
rivals,saying[16] ,Youcouldcutthatway,way,waydown.
Rubio,however,wouldswingtheaxwithmorevigor.Thismonthhesaidthecountrydoesntneed
thefederalagency,accordingtotheAssociatedPress[17] ,becauseitsrecommendationstostate
andlocalgovernmentsoftenbecomemandatesthataretiedtofunding.
"Whatstartsoutasasuggestionendsupbeing,'Ifyouwantmoneyfromus,youmustdoitthis
way,'andyouwillendupwithaversionofanationalschoolboard,"Rubiosaid."Wedon'tneeda
nationalschoolboard."
2/3
9/24/2015
Hesaidthedepartmentoverseesprogramsthathavemerit,butthatthosefunctionscouldbe
transferredtootheragencies.
OnefederalrolethatmightrequiresometweakingundertheFloridasenatorsplanisthatoftheU.S.
secretaryofeducationinapprovingandoverseeing[18] theaccreditationagenciesthatare
gatekeepersoffederalfinancialaidprograms.
Rubiohaspromisedtobustupthecartelofhighereducationaccreditationbycreatingan
alternativeaccreditationpathwayforlowcost,innovativeeducationproviders.Thatideaisgrounded
inlegislation[19] RubiohasintroducedpreviouslyintheSenate.Sofar,however,hehasyettoclarify
whichagencymightoverseeanewaccreditorunderanEducationDepartmentfreeexecutive
branch.
2016Election[20]
OntheStump[21]
SourceURL:https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/09/10/republicanpresidentialcandidatesbegingettingweeds?
width=775&height=500&iframe=true
Links:
[1]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/08/27/clintonsandersunitedcallmorefederalspendinghigheredvary
college
[2]https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2015/07/08/rubiowantstakehighereducationcartel
[3]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/09/09/obamaunveilsnewpushnationalfreecommunitycollege
[4]http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/04/17/jebbushnewhampshireconservative/
[5]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/08/26/billhaslamsfreecommunitycollegeplanandhowtennessee
grabbingspotlighthigher
[6]http://thehill.com/blogs/ballotbox/251850bushembracessametuitionfreeprogramasobama
[7]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/05/21/bipartisanagreementrisksharingconceptonly
[8]http://younginvincibles.org/2016millennialmemoseptember92015keepingtabsonhighereducationdebates/
[9]https://www.naspa.org/rpi/posts/offtargetandofffocusexaminingthemythofontimegraduationat4year
[10]http://nscresearchcenter.org/signaturereport8/#Sig8Intro3
[11]http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/20150901/jebbushsayshiscollegedebtplancomingwithinamonth
[12]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/07/23/ohiostatepresidentsteeredstatepolicytwoyearsthanks
relationshipgovernor
[13]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/08/20/obamaadministrationwilldraftnewrulesstudentdebtrelieffocus
college
[14]http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/09/03/kasichfindsnewsupportonswingthroughnh.html
[15]http://www.mikehuckabee.com/education
[16]http://www.forbes.com/sites/maureensullivan/2015/06/16/donaldtrumponeducation5thingsthepresidential
candidatewantsyoutoknow/
[17]http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/marcorubionationuseducationdepartment33465032
[18]http://www2.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/accreditation_pg11.html
[19]https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/02/11/rubiocallsswiftoverhaulaccreditation
[20]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/focus/2016election
[21]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/newssections/stump
undefined
undefined
3/3
9/24/2015
StateCutbacksCurbTraininginJobsCriticaltoEconomyTheNewYorkTimes
WheretheJobsAre,theTrainingMayNot
Be
ByCATHERINERAMPELL
MARCH1,2012
Asstatefundinghasdwindled,publiccollegeshaveraisedtuitionandarenow
resortingtoevenmoredesperatemeasurescuttingtrainingforjobsthe
economyneedsmost.
Technical,engineeringandhealthcareexpertiseareamongthefewskills
inhugedemandevenintodayslacklusterjobmarket.Theyarealso,
unfortunately,someofthemostexpensivesubjectstoteach.Asaresult,state
collegesinNebraska,Nevada,SouthDakota,Colorado,Michigan,Floridaand
Texashaveeliminatedentireengineeringandcomputersciencedepartments.
AtonecommunitycollegeinNorthCarolinaastatewithasevere
nursingshortagenursingprogramapplicantssooutnumberavailableslots
thatthereisawaitinglistjusttogetonthewaitinglist.
Thissqueezeisoneresultofthestates25yearwithdrawalfromhigher
education.Duringandimmediatelyafterthelastfewrecessions,statesslashed
financingforcolleges.Thenwhentheeconomyrecovered,moststatesnever
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/02/business/dealbook/statecutbackscurbtraininginjobscriticaltoeconomy.html?_r=0
1/5
9/24/2015
fullyrestoredthemoneythathadbeencut.Therecentrecessionhasamplified
theproblem.
Therehasbeenashiftfromthebeliefthatweasanationbenefitfrom
highereducation,toabeliefthatitsthepeoplereceivingtheeducationwho
primarilybenefitandsotheyshouldfootthebill,saidRonaldG.Ehrenberg,
thedirectoroftheCornellHigherEducationResearchInstituteandatrustee
oftheStateUniversityofNewYorksystem.
Evenlargetuitionincreaseshavenotfullyoffsetstatecuts,sincemany
statelegislaturescaphowmuchcollegescanchargeforeachcourse.Soclasses
getbigger,tenuredfacultymembersarereplacedwithadjunctsandtechnical
coursesaresacrificed.
Stateappropriationsforcollegesfellby7.6percentin201112,thelargest
annualdeclineinatleastfivedecades,accordingtoareportfromtheCenter
fortheStudyofEducationPolicyatIllinoisStateUniversity.Inoneextreme
example,Arizonahasslasheditscollegebudgetby31percentsincethe
recessionbeganin2007.
Itisthiscumulativepublicdivestmentandnotextravaganceslike
climbingwallsorrecreationalcentersadvertisedonafewelitecampuses
thatisprimarilyresponsibleforskyrocketingtuitionsatstateinstitutions,
whichenrollthreeoutofeveryfourcollegestudents.
Collegeshavefoundwaystoholdcostsperstudentrelativelysteady.Since
1985,theaverageamountthatpublicinstitutionsspendonteachingeachfull
timestudentoverthecourseofayearhasbarelybudged,hoveringaroundan
inflationadjusted$10,000,accordingtoaStateHigherEducationExecutive
Officersreport.Butinthesameperiod,theshareofinstructioncostspaidfor
byactualtuitionnotthestickerprice,buttheamountstudentsactuallypay
afterfinancialaidhasnearlydoubled,to40percentfrom23percent.
Iunderstandwhystudentsareangry,saidGeorgeR.Blumenthal,the
2/5
9/24/2015
chancelloroftheUniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz,wherestudentprotests
haveerupted.Theyhavetowritebiggercheckseveryyear,andtheycantget
intotheclassestheywant.Therealityistheyrepayingmoreandgettingless.
Incuttingeducationalsubsidies,statesmaybepennywiseandpound
foolish,Mr.Ehrenbergsaid.
Economistshavefoundthathighereducationbenefitscommunitieseven
morethanitbenefitstheindividualreceivingthedegree.Studiesshowthatan
educatedpopulaceleadstofastereconomicgrowthandamorestable
democracy,andbenefitsthepoorestworkersthemost.ThepostWorldWarII
economicboom,forexample,hasbeenattributedtoincreasedcollege
enrollmentthankstotheG.I.Bill.
Lessskilledworkershavemuchtogainfromenrollinginhigher
education,giventhewagepremiumthatadditionaltrainingbrings.State
fundingcutsnotonlyreducetheabilityforthepoortoreceivemoretraining,
butalsodisproportionatelylimitaccesstothefieldsthataremostimportantto
economicandjobgrowth:sciences,engineeringandhealthcare.
Thesecoursesareespeciallyexpensivetoteachpartlybecauseof
equipmentandsafetyprecautions.Becausetheseskillsareinsuchhigh
demand,professorsalsohavemoreopportunitiesintheprivatesectorandso
cancommandhigherpay.
Statelawsusuallybarcollegesfromchargingdifferenttuitionamountsfor
differentundergraduatesubjects,regardlessofcosts.Traditionallythehigher
costoftechnicaltraininghasinsteadbeensubsidizedwithstatefunds.
Whentheydontgettheappropriateleveloffunding,theresaflightto
cheaperprograms,likegeneralstudiesorthehumanities,saidNateJohnson,
ahighereducationconsultantandformerassociatedirectorofinstitutional
researchfortheUniversityofFlorida.
3/5
9/24/2015
FloridaInternationalUniversitygraduatesmoreHispanicengineerseach
yearthananyotherinstitutioninthe50states.Sincethe20078schoolyear,
thestatefundingtheuniversityreceivesannuallyperfulltimestudenthas
fallenby$2,628.Theuniversityhasbeenallowedtoraisetuitionby$1,233in
thattime,coveringlessthanhalftheshortfall.
FloridaInternationalhasfoundefficiencies,likereducingenergycosts.
Butithasalsoincreasedstudentteacherratiosandeliminatedsomeacademic
programs,likeindustrialengineeringanddance,evenasenrollmenthas
surged.(Fineartscoursesarealsoexpensivetoteach,partlybecausethey
requiresomuchoneononetimewithprofessors.)
TheresalotofsoulsearchinginFlorida,saidMarkB.Rosenberg,
presidentoftheuniversity.Intheendifhighereducationisviewedbymost
statesasacostandnotaninvestment,thenitsinevitablethatthiskindofcost
shiftingwillcontinuetooccur.
Iftheyarenoteliminatingjobfriendlytechnicalprogramsoutright,many
collegesaresimplynotexpandingthemtomeetdemand.Studentsthenhave
tostayincollegelongertosqueezeinrequiredclasses,increasingboththeir
debtandthechancethattheywilldropout.
AtWakeTechnicalCommunityCollegeinRaleigh,N.C.,enrollmenthas
grownbyabout30percentinthelastthreeyears,whiletotalstatefundinghas
fallenby21percent,anamountnotfullyoffsetbytuitionincreases.The
collegecannotaffordtoexpanditspopularnursingprogrambeyondits275
slots,leaving1,000frustratedstudentsonthewaitinglist.Tokeepthese
students,thecollegehasenrolledtheminaprenursingprogram,anew
prerequisiteforstayingonthewaitinglist.Buteventhosecourseshavea
waitinglistofmorethan400students.Someflagshipuniversitiesinstate
systems,withrelativelywealthyalumniandrobustendowments,have
survivedthestatecutswithlessdamage.TheUniversityofCalifornia,
Berkeley,forexample,hasstarteda$3billionfundraisingcampaignand
4/5
9/24/2015
beguninvestingitsworkingcapitalmoreaggressively.
Manystatecollegeshavebeenleaningmoreheavilyonthefederal
government,includingthroughexpandedPellGrantfundingandRecoveryAct
money.PresidentObamarecentlyproposeda$8billionfederalpackagefor
communitycollegestoprovideadditionaljobtraining.
Thereisthisnarrativeouttherethatwehaveenoughmoneyinthe
system,thatifweonlyspentitbetterwecouldincreasedegreeattainment,
saidJaneV.Wellman,foundingdirectoroftheDeltaCostProject,which
releasedacomprehensivereportoncollegecosts.Butwearenotgoingtoget
thedegreeattainmentlevelstheeconomyneedsexclusivelyfromfinding
efficiencieshereandthere.Thisisnotthemiracleoftheloavesandfishes.
AversionofthisarticleappearsinprintonMarch2,2012,onpageA1oftheNewYorkeditionwith
theheadline:WheretheJobsAre,theTrainingMayNotBe.
2015TheNewYorkTimesCompany
5/5
9/24/2015
Bipartisanagreementonrisksharing,butinconceptonly
SubmittedbyMichaelStratfordonMay21,20153:00am
WASHINGTONAcongressionalhearinghereWednesdaywasthelatestillustrationofwhathas,
inrecentyears,becomeabedrockrealityofthepoliticsofhighereducationatthefederallevel:
lawmakersacrossthepoliticalspectrumwanttoholdcollegesmoreaccountableforstudent
outcomes.
DemocratsandRepublicansontheSenateeducationcommitteewereinagreementthatthe
governmentsexistingaccountabilitymetrics,likedefaultrates,areinadequate.Andnearlyall
backedtheconceptofrisksharingtheideathatindividualcollegesneedtohaveagreater
financialstakeinwhathappenstothefederalloansthatstudentsusetoattendtheirinstitutions.
Forallthebipartisanrhetoricaboutrisksharing,though,Wednesdayshearingalsoshowedthat
hammeringoutthedetailsofanewaccountabilityregimewontbeeasy.
SenatorLamarAlexanderofTennessee,theRepublicanwhochairsthecommittee,saidthathewas
seriouslyconsideringincludingsometypeofnewrisksharingprograminhisrewriteoftheHigher
EducationAct.
Alexanderfirstfloatedtheideainaseriesofpolicypapershereleasedearlierthisyear.One
approachheiseyeingwouldrequirecollegestopaybacktothegovernmentsomeshareofthe
defaultedloansofitsformerstudents.
SeveralDemocraticSenatorsRhodeIsland'sJackReed,Illinois'sDickDurbinand
Massachusetts'sElizabethWarrenhavealsointroducedarisksharingproposalalongthoselines.
Theirplan,whichtheyfirstintroducedin2013,wouldrequirecollegestorepayashare,basedona
slidingscale,ofthedefaulteddebtoftheirgraduates.
TheDemocraticplancarvesoutcertainexemptionsforcollegesthathavelowratesofborrowing.
Thatwouldlikelybenefitmanycommunitycolleges.
AlexandercalledtheDemocratsplanonWednesdayanimportantframeworkworthconsidering.
Buthesaidhewantsanyrisksharingplanstoapplytoallcolleges,eventhoughtheplansmight
havetobestructureddifferentlyfordifferenttypesofinstitutions.
Alexanderalsosaidthatrequiringcollegestohaveagreaterstakeintheoutcomesoftheirstudents
https://www.insidehighered.com/print/news/2015/05/21/bipartisanagreementrisksharingconceptonly?width=775&height=500&iframe=true
1/2
9/24/2015
alongwiththepowertolimitstudentsborrowingwouldreduceoverborrowing.
Federallawcurrentlytreatsaccesstostudentloansmostlyasanentitlement.Collegeshavelittle
authoritytolimittheamountofmoneythatstudentstakeoutinloans.Theissuehascreatedarare
agreementbetweencommunitycollegeleadersandforprofitcollegesupporters,whoareboth
pushingCongresstogivethemtheabilitytocurbtheirstudentsborrowing.
Itsclearthatsomestudentsborrowtoomuch,Alexandersaid.
TheObamaadministration,too,hasexpressedsomeinterestintheideaoflettingcollegeslimit
borrowing.TheU.S.DepartmentofEducationhaswaivedexistingrulesforsomecollegesthatwant
toexperimentwithborrowinglimits.
Butnotallstudentandconsumeradvocatesagreethatoverborrowingisawidespreadproblemthat
isdrivingupstudentloandebt.Moreoften,thoseadvocatessay,lowincomestudentsaredropping
outofcollegewithoutadegreebecausetheycantaffordthecostofcollegeandthelivingexpenses
theyincurwhilepursuingtheirstudies.
Allowingcollegestolimitstudentsaccesstofederalloanswouldonlyexacerbatethatproblem,they
argue.
TheInstituteforCollegeAccessandSuccessandothergroupssaidinalettertolawmakerson
Tuesdaythatabetterapproachmightbeproratingfederalloaneligibilityforstudentswhoattend
collegeonlyparttime.
Currentlyaparttimestudentcanaccessjustasmanyfederalloandollarsasafulltimestudent.Pell
Grants,however,fluctuatebasedonthenumberofcreditsastudentistaking.
SourceURL:https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/05/21/bipartisanagreementrisksharingconceptonly?
width=775&height=500&iframe=true
undefined
undefined
https://www.insidehighered.com/print/news/2015/05/21/bipartisanagreementrisksharingconceptonly?width=775&height=500&iframe=true
2/2
9/24/2015
Alexanderweighingnewaccountabilitytools,betterdatainHigherEdActrewrite
Alexanderweighingnewaccountabilitytools,betterdatain
HigherEdActrewrite
SubmittedbyMichaelStratfordonMarch24,20153:00am
WASHINGTONTheleadingRepublicanintheSenatewhoisworkingonarewriteoftheHigher
EducationActisweighingnewwaystoholdcollegesaccountablefortheirstudentssuccessandis
consideringafederaldatabasetokeeptrackofstudentoutcomes.
SenatorLamarAlexanderonMondayreleasedthreepolicypapersoutliningideasonmaking
collegesshareinthefinancialriskofthefederalloanstheyprovidestudents[1] ,overhauling
accreditation[2] andchanginghowthefederalgovernmentcollectsdatafromcolleges[3] .
ThedocumentsofferthemostexpansivelookyetatAlexandersprioritiesforrewritingtheHigher
EducationAct,whichhehassaidhewantstheSenatetovoteonbytheendof2015.Alexanderhas
spentmuchofthelastyear[4] promotinghisefforts[5] tosimplifythefederalstudentaidformknown
astheFAFSAandtoreduceregulations[6] oncollegesanduniversities.
Theoutlinedoesnotstakeoutmanyclearpolicypositions,andinsteadreviewsarangeofproposals
thatareupfordebate.Forinstance,itsaysthatastudentunitrecord[7] database[7] ,opposedby
manyCongressionalRepublicans,isupforconsideration.Butitalsolaysoutanalternativeplanthat
wouldmaintainthefederalbanonsuchasystemwhilepushingforlimitedgraduateearningsdata
throughapartnershipbetweentheDepartmentofEducationandSocialSecurityAdministration.
NewAccountabilityIdeas
Oneissuethatemergesclearlyinthesetofproposalsisholdingcollegesmoreaccountablefortheir
studentssuccess,includingtheirlevelsofdebtandabilitytorepayit.
Theoutlinebackstheconceptofrisksharingorskininthegameproposalsforcollegeswhenit
comestofederalstudentloans.Underthoseproposals,aninstitutionmaybeforcedtorepaysome
amountoftheirformerstudentsdefaulteddebtorotherwisebeheldresponsibleforashareofthe
federalloanstheygiveout.
Inaddition,thepaperfloatstheideaofmakingcollegesannuallypayintoaninsurancefundbased
onriskfactorssuchastherateatwhichtheirstudentswithdrawordropout.
https://www.insidehighered.com/print/news/2015/03/24/alexanderweighingnewaccountabilitytoolsbetterdatahigheredactrewrite?width=775&height=500
1/4
9/24/2015
Suchrisksharingproposalswouldensurethatcollegesanduniversitieshaveaclearfinancialstake
intheirstudentssuccess,debtandabilitytorepaytheirtaxpayersubsidizedstudentloans,the
documentsays.
SomeofAlexandersmostliberalcolleaguesintheSenatehavecalledforasimilarapproach.His
policypaperreferencesaproposalin2013[8] byDemocraticSenatorsElizabethWarrenof
Massachusetts,JackReedofRhodeIslandandRichardDurbinofIllinoisthatwouldrequirecolleges
topaypenalties,onaslidingscale,basedontheirdefaultrates.
Notably,though,whiletheSenateDemocratsproposalwouldexcludecommunitycollegesand
historicallyblackcollegesfromrisksharing,Alexanderspaperemphasizesthatsuchpoliciesought
toapplytoallcollegesanduniversities.Thatsacommonrefrainofforprofitcolleges,whichargue
thattheyareunfairlysingledoutforscrutinyandfederalregulationinawaytheirnonprofit
counterpartsarenot.
Inspiteofthosedifferences,though,Alexanderspaperssuggestthatthereisemerging,bipartisan
consensusthatcohortdefaultratesthefederalgovernmentsmainaccountabilitytoolrightnow
aretoobluntandineffective.
Alexanderspapersaysthatcollegesareaffordedagenerousappealsprocessthatresultsin
minimalconsequences,citingaCongressionalResearchServicereportthatfoundtheDepartment
ofEducationhadactuallyterminatedfederalfundingforonly11institutionssince1999becauseof
highdefaultrates.
Itreferencesallegations,oftenmadebyconsumeradvocates,thatdefaultratesareeasilygamedby
colleges,whichpushstrugglingborrowersintoloandefermentstoavoidgettingpenalizedfor
defaults.
ThepolicydocumentsalsotakeaimattheObamaadministrationsannouncementlastyearthatit
hadtweakedthedefaultrates[9] forsomecolleges,allowingthoseinstitutionstohavelowerrates
andavoidpenalties.Thatdecision,Alexander'spaperasserts,raisedseriousconcernsaboutthe
efficacyofcohortdefaultrates."Federallawshouldlimitthedepartmentsabilitytoengageinsuch
nontransparentpractices,itadded.
TwoprominentDemocraticlawmakersraisedsimilarconcerns[10] inalettertoEducationSecretary
ArneDuncanlastyear.
Despitesomebipartisanovertures,though,Alexandersoutlinealsocriticizessomeaccountability
measuresthattheObamaadministration,CongressionalDemocratsandconsumeradvocateslike
andwanttoseestrengthenedinmanycases.Ittakesaim,forinstance,atthegainfulemployment
[11] regulationstargetingforprofitcollegesandthe90/10rule[12] thatlimitstheamountoffederal
moneythatcanflowtothoseinstitutions.
OverhaulofAccreditation
Thepolicywhitepapersalsofloatanumberofdrasticpossiblechangestohighereducation
accreditation,withageneralfocusonreducingfederalregulationofaccreditationwhilemakingit
easierfornontraditionalandinnovativemodelsofeducationtogainapproval.
Amongthepossibilities:decouplingaccreditationfromeligibilityforfederalstudentaid,allowing
tieredlevelsofaccreditation(asopposedtothecurrentbinarysystem)andpermittingaccrediting
agenciestofocusoninstitutionsthattrulyneedthemostassistancewhileexpeditingthereviewof
institutionwithgoodtrackrecords.
Theoutlinealsoreferencesaproposal[13] bySenatorMikeLeeofUtah,aRepublican,thatisaimed
atcreatinganewpathwaytofederalfundingforeducationofferingsprovidedbynoncollegeentities
2/4
9/24/2015
likebusinesses,tradeassociationsorunions.
Alexanderspaperconcedesthatquestionsremainabouthowtopolicethequalityofthese
nontraditionalmodels.Suchqualitycontrol,itsays,couldpotentiallycomefromstateregulators(as
inLeesproposal),existingaccreditingagenciesoranewaccreditor[14] .
AnAgendaforReauthorization
ManyoftheideasinAlexanderspolicypapersechoproposalsoutlinedlastfall[15] byAndrewKelly
andKevinJamesoftheAmericanEnterpriseInstitute.
Kelly,whodirectshighereducationresearchatA.E.I.,saidMondaythatAlexandersproposals,
takentogether,representanimportantproactiveandcoherentconservativeagendaforreforming
highereducation.
HecalledtheproposalsacrediblecounterpointandcountermessagetoeffortsbyDemocrats,led
bytheObamaadministration,topromoteaccountabilitythroughtopdownregulatoryeffortslike
gainfulemploymentandthecollegeratingssystem.
Thisisnotjustanotothosethings,hesaid.ItsanalternativeapproachthatIthinkisinkeeping
withconservative,marketbasedprinciplesofaccountability.
SenateDemocrats,meanwhile,arehoping[16] theHigherEducationActincludesprovisionsthatlook
toreininrisingtuitionandprovidedirectreliefforAmericanswithexistingstudentloandebt.
Agroupoflawmakers,ledbyWarren,theMassachusettsDemocrat,earlierthismonthreintroduced
legislation[17] thatwouldallowexistingfederalstudentloanborrowerstolowertheirmonthly
paymentsbyrefinancingtheirdebt.
SenatorPattyMurrayofWashington,thetopDemocratontheSenateeducationcommittee,saidin
astatementMondaythatsheappreciatedAlexanderhighlightingtheissuesinhisoutline.
IamlookingforwardtocontinuingtheconversationonwaystoupdatetheHigherEducationActto
makecollegemoreaffordable,reducethecrushingburdenofstudentdebtandgivemoreAmericans
thechancetofurthertheireducation,trainingandskills,shesaid.
Alexanderisseekingpublicfeedbackonhispolicypapers.Commentsaredue[18] byApril24.
SourceURL:https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/03/24/alexanderweighingnewaccountabilitytoolsbetterdata
higheredactrewrite?width=775&height=500&iframe=true
Links:
[1]https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/files/Risk%20Sharing2.pdf
[2]https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/files/Accreditation.pdf
[3]https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/files/Consumer%20Information.pdf
[4]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/02/13/lamaralexandercontinuespushderegulatehighereducation
[5]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/06/20/lawmakersfafsasimplificationlegislationheareauthorizationsenate
heats
[6]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/02/13/senatesponsoredreportcallssimplifiedandfewerregulations
colleges
[7]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/05/13/politicalwindsshiftfederalunitrecordsdatabasehowmuch
[8]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/20/senatedemocratslaunchnewpushstudentloandebtcollege
accountability
[9]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/09/24/educationdepttweaksdefaultratecalculationhelpcollegesavoid
penalties
[10]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/11/19/twodemocratscriticizeobamaadministrationhelpingcolleges
avoiddefaultrate
[11]https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/10/30/finalgainfulemploymentrulesdroploandefaultrate
3/4

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