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Cover of book: The Merit Myth
Federal Policy
The Merit Myth

How Our Colleges Favor the Rich and Divide America

May 26, 2020
The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce presents a framework for system-wide change with policy recommendations including: End the overreliance on the SAT and ACT, since GPA has been shown to be a better predictor of academic success Halt legacy admissions, as they do no more than perpetuate the insularity of selective colleges Require…
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Federal Policy
Lumina Public Comment regarding the Distance Education Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)

RE: Docket ID ED–2018–OPE–0076

May 7, 2020
Lumina's public comment regarding the Distance Education Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the general, establishing eligibility, maintaining eligibility, and losing eligibility sections of the Institutional Eligibility regulations issued under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), related to distance education and innovation.
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Federal Policy
Connecting Opportunity Youth to Postsecondary Credentials and Careers

Federal Investments and Scaling Best Practices

Feb. 5, 2020
Despite the known benefits of investing in opportunity youth, federal funding for programs serving this population has declined precipitously since its peak in the late 1970s. As a result, only 7 percent of the current 4.5 million opportunity youth across the country are served by federally funded programs. Even though federal funding for youth-serving programs…
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Federal Policy
A New Course for Higher Education

Strengthening Access, Affordability, and Accountability

Jan. 23, 2020
A report from the Bipartisan Policy Center offers a package of recommendations for how lawmakers should overhaul the main law governing higher education. Among the report’s suggestions: create a $5 billion-a-year state-federal matching program; make federal accountability for colleges “sector-neutral,” and give extra Pell money to students at colleges that successfully serve large numbers of…
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Federal Policy
Protecting the Cohort Default Rate From Forbearance Abuse
Jan. 7, 2020
The CDR is the federal government’s most longstanding student debt outcome measure, tracking how often students experience the single most devastating student loan repayment outcome: default. By tying high rates of default to schools’ eligibility for federal financial aid, the CDR remains critical for ensuring schools do not consistently leave significant shares of their students…
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Federal Policy
Risk Sharing

How to Hold Colleges Accountable for the Education They Provide

Dec. 4, 2019
College has become a risky proposition for students as well as taxpayers. Fewer than six in 10 students who start a degree will ever finish, which means that they won’t see a return on the money they’ve spent to attend—and if they took out a loan from the federal government, they might be left with…
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Federal Policy
Modern Income-Share Agreements in Postsecondary Education

Features, Theory, Applications

Nov. 25, 2019
Income-share agreements (ISAs) show promise for improving college access, retention, and completion, but consumer protections are essential, suggests a new paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. More than 40 colleges and universities and numerous alternative education, vocational, recredentialing, and workforce development programs offer ISAs, the report notes, with interest in them continuing to…
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Federal Policy
Student Loan System Presents Repayment Challenges

Borrowers at Risk of Default and Delinquency Need Flexibility and Targeted, Timely Support

Oct. 31, 2019
Higher education is among the most effective strategies available to bolster families’ economic security. However, many researchers and experts have pointed out that maximizing that potential requires significant front-end solutions to prevent problems, including efforts to increase college completion, address earnings and wealth disparities between white households and those of color, and reduce the amount…
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Federal Policy
What Happens to Students When the Federal Government Sanctions Colleges?
Oct. 22, 2019
This report from Third Way explores the effect of federal sanctions on higher education and accountability structures after the Obama-era Education Department’s “Gainful Employment” regulation was repealed by the Trump Administration.
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Federal Policy
Charting the Course for Redesigning Financial Aid in California
Oct. 16, 2019
The next steps California takes to expand the scope and reach of its investments in college affordability will have major repercussions for college access, equity, and completion. Years of analysis and discussion have converged on a North Star to guide the state toward more effective financial aid policy centered on students’ needs, realities, and challenges.
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