Education Policy Program: Latest Articles

Academic March Madness

Ron Tang — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 06:36:00 -0400

If you've watched any of the televised men's college basketball tournament this year, you've been bombarded by NCAA commercials that declare: "There are 380,000 NCAA student athletes... and just about every one of them will go pro in something other than sports."

It's an uplifting tagline, but there's a catch. In order to "go pro in something other than sports," that athlete needs a college degree. And far too many male athletes in top-tier Division I basketball programs never graduate.

The teams that played in the Sweet 16 this year have some of the worst academic records in the country, particularly the… more

Taming the Tuition Beast

Ron Tang — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:47:00 -0400

It's not news that the cost of a college degree has risen significantly over the last couple of decades.

Since 1990, tuition and fees have risen by nearly 225 percent at four-year public colleges and by 154 percent at private four-year colleges. The real story is that tuition growth rates often fluctuate wildly from year to year -- which makes it hard for families to plan ahead and budget enough to cover the costs.

Last year, students at Villanova faced an unexpected tuition and fee increase that was double the previous year's.

Students entering Penn State in 2002 had no way of knowing… more

A Matter of Degrees

adminn — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:53:00 -0500

As the college football season nears its final showdown between Ohio State and LSU, the media-stoked frenzy over which teams were selected for the Bowl Championship Series has reached a fever pitch.

Penn State is in the Alamo Bowl, with less money and media attention. But if team academic performance were considered by the BCS, Penn State would have fared much better.

Over all, the academic performance of big-time college football is dismal. Only 56 percent of Division I-A football players graduate within six years of enrollment. Many who do receive a diploma are tracked into jock majors or… more

Continuing the Investment

adminn — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:58:00 -0500

Deep Creek Elementary School is an education success story. In 2001, Deep Creek, where more than three-quarters of students come from low-income families and 80 percent are black or Hispanic, was one of the worst elementary schools in Baltimore County, Maryland. Its third-graders were reading at a first-grade level. But the new principal, Anissa Brown Dennis, expanded collaboration and professional development for teachers, implemented an aligned reading and math curriculum from pre-K through third grade, and offered summer learning and after-school programs for struggling students. Today, nearly three-quarters of Deep Creek students read on grade level, teacher and student morale… more

We're Still Failing Our Students

Articles — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 10:59:00 -0400

On Monday, the ACLU of Southern California and Public Advocates Inc. released an upbeat progress report on the results of the settlement of Williams vs. California, a class-action suit brought on behalf of the state’s most-neglected students. In the lowest-performing schools, there are more textbooks, adequate facilities and teachers with proper credentials. However, the report, like the settlement, failed to address the bigger issue: achieving "teacher equity" across the state.

More so than textbooks or school facilities, research has shown that teachers have the greatest effect on student learning and, by extension, educational opportunity. Yet in addressing access to good teachers,… more

The Case for Pre-K

Articles — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 11:10:00 -0400

In 1961, 13 three- and four-year-olds from poor black families began attending a preschool class at Perry Elementary School in Ypsilanti, Michigan. They were there as much to learn as to teach. A team of researchers followed not only their time at the preschool, but their trajectory over the next four decades, and the findings were startling:

Compared to a control group of similar children who didn’t attend preschool, this class from Perry Elementary School would be less likely to skip class, be placed in special education, or wind up in jail. They’d be more likely to graduate high school… more

Student Loan Scandal

Articles — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 14:32:00 -0400

Student loan banks and their allies are trying to spin away the public’s outrage over the discovery that private lenders have been bribing college aid officials to steer student business their way. The banks want to change the subject by criticizing the government’s separate direct loan program instead of looking at where all that bribe money comes from: You.

The government spends billions each year on unnecessary subsidies to banks that make student loans. It’s these excess taxpayer subsidies to private student loan banks that are the root cause of the college loan scandal. They ought to be eliminated.

There are… more

A Rank Exercise

Articles — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:44:00 -0400

Until a few years ago, America’s elementary and secondary schools generally escaped our national obsession with lists. Almost every week another ranking of best communities, most beautiful people or top hospitals is published.

But in 1998 Newsweek, which is owned by The Washington Post, began publishing a list of "The 100 Best High Schools in America." The ranking is based on "The Challenge Index," a measure developed by Washington Post education reporter Jay Mathews. The list, published annually the past few years, has become increasingly influential. Other media outlets now cover it like a horserace, and high schools all over… more

When Student Lenders Compete, N.Y. Wins

adminn — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:16:00 -0400

Colleges and college aid officials have been funneling their students to big banks like Sallie Mae and Citibank in exchange for cash, gifts and in-kind benefits, according to a series of recent public investigations, the most energetic of which is being led by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Thus far, the investigations have resulted in the suspension of 10 higher education officials, including Columbia University's director of financial aid, the issuance of almost 100 subpoenas nationwide, and a series of financial settlements with several colleges and three student loan banks. The colleges have agreed to gift bans… more

Borrowing Trouble

Articles — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 23:39:00 -0400

After 15 years, of reporting on the student-loan industry, I didn’t think much could surprise me. But even I was shocked last week when I discovered Securities and Exchange Commission documents revealing that financial aid directors at three prominent universities -- as well as a senior official at the U.S. Education Department -- each had significant personal investments in a private student-loan company

What possibly could have motivated these officials to take tens of thousands of dollars in stock options from Student Loan Xpress? Has the whole student-loan business become so corrupt that they failed to see the conflict of interest?… more

Create a College Access Contract

Articles — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 01:01:00 -0400

America’s financial-aid system provides too much taxpayer support to banks that make college loans, asks too little of students who assume them, and burdens families with too much debt. We need to rethink the system in order to improve college access and affordability. Federal higher-education policy largely fails to reward rigorous college-preparatory work in high school. It penalizes students who hold jobs while in college. Lenders make extraordinary profits, while young people leave college burdened with debt and, more often than not, without the degree or skills necessary to repay it.

A new more

Acing These Finals, but Falling Short of Graduation

adminn — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 14:54:00 -0400

When March Madness ends next Monday, the NCAA men's basketball champions will get to cut down the nets at the Georgia Dome and visit the White House. What many won't go on to do is graduate from college. And the classmates celebrating their school's triumph might not either. In fact, colleges that excel in the top tier of basketball -- Division I -- have dismal graduation rates overall, not just for their players. There are also profound gaps between their graduation rates for white and black students. Three of the Sweet 16 schools fail to graduate even half of their… more

A Bid for Better Student Loans

Articles — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 21:58:00 -0500

The average graduate of a four-year college now sets off in life burdened by almost $20,000 in student loans. Among those graduating from four-year private schools, it is not uncommon to owe $40,000 or more. Responding to this unprecedented burden on Americans seeking to improve themselves, the House recently passed a bill that, on average, would reduce the loan interest paid by college students by about $30 a month.

That’s welcome relief. But by forcing banks to compete for the right to make government-guaranteed student loans, we can do much more to ensure that young Americans are not sunk by… more

Give Money to Students, Not Lenders

Articles — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 22:57:00 -0400

A new Education Department report could have dramatic implications for the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Authority (PHEAA).

The report, from the department’s inspector general’s office, calls on the National Education Loan Network, known as Nelnet, to give up $278 million in improperly claimed taxpayer subsidies. An additional $882 million could still be counted as overpayment, according to the report. Nelnet disagrees with the findings, and it’s now up to the Department of Education secretary to accept or reject the report.

About two-thirds of PHEAA’s earnings in 2004 came from the same subsidy, and the nonprofit lender is now being audited.

How did Nelnet… more

Missouri's Catch 22

Articles — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 01:16:00 -0400

Missouri’s pending plan to sell its student loan non-profit’s assets in order to pay for $350 million in college construction is doomed to fail. What seems like a great arrangement for everyone has two major problems:

First, the deal depends on an illegal bribe. Second, it’s actually not that great for either students or taxpayers. Even so, there are ways to turn it into a good deal, if Washington and Jefferson City work together.

The plan calls for Missouri’s Higher Education Loan Authority to sell hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of existing student loans -- most likely to the… more

Textbook Foolishness

Articles — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 18:03:00 -0400

An important education bill -- sponsored by state Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier) and supported by prominent education groups -- is sitting on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s desk awaiting his signature. The bill would allow publishers to develop textbooks for the state that would be designed to foster the language skills of non-native English speakers.

Virtually everyone agrees that these English language learners, who make up about 25% of the state’s student population, need more help mastering English. According to a 2006 state-commissioned report, fewer than 40% of English learners in California schools are likely to meet the linguistic and academic criteria needed… more

Counseling Kids to Graduation and Beyond

Articles — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 00:23:00 -0400

In all the talk about education reform, school counselors seldom come up. Maybe that’s because adults tend to do the talking.

A privately funded after-school program in Oakland called Kids First has spent the last couple of years coordinating youth-led research projects to figure out why kids in their city believe that dropout rates are so high and college admissions so rare. To the surprise of the group’s adult organizers, the No. 1 issue that kids identified was bad or nonexistent counseling.

The Kids First students said they had trouble making sense of graduation requirements -- especially the transfer students, who can… more

Debating Early Admission

Articles — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 11:44:00 -0400

Michael Dannenberg: YES -- It does more harm than good

Let’s face it: Early decision exists to help colleges manage their enrollment. Its secondary purpose is to provide students with advance certainty as to their college plans. But early decision discriminates structurally against low-income students. It has a disparate impact that harms minority students. And it contributes to the college application frenzy. Its most vocal proponents are private college admission counselors who charge families up to $30,000 each for advice on how to game the system. Colleges should step up and end the practice of binding early decision.

Savvy poor and working-class… more

With Three Smart Steps, Congress Can Make a Big Difference

Articles — Sun, 06 Nov 2005 00:00:00 -0500

I just paid off the last of my student loans. Today, I start saving for my children's college education, and I'm already behind. Like millions of Americans, by the time I retire, I will have spent over 75% of my life either paying or saving for college. It shouldn't be this hard.

The College Board recently reported that tuition and fees at public four-year colleges are up more than 37% in non-inflation-adjusted terms just since this year's senior class began college. At the current rate of tuition and fee increases, today's first-graders will be paying more than $341,000 for… more

A Katrina Voucher Compromise

Articles — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0400

"Remember Max Cleland" are three words that should haunt Democrats who want to oppose President Bush's new school voucher plan for children displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Cleland, a triple amputee from his service in the Vietnam War, was Georgia's junior U.S. senator until defeated for re-election in 2002 amid charges of weakness on national security.

Those charges stemmed from his opposition to Mr. Bush's response to 9/11: creation of a Department of Homeland Security free from civil service union rules. Mr. Cleland stood with the unions against Mr. Bush.

In response to Katrina, Mr. Bush has proposed up to… more