David A. Bergeron rejoins American Progress as a senior fellow in the Education department, working on higher education policy issues including access, affordability, and success. He was previously a senior fellow for Postsecondary Education at American Progress, having also served as vice president for Postsecondary Education Policy from 2013 to 2015. In addition to Bergeron’s role at American Progress, he serves on the dean’s advisory council for the College of Education at the University of Rhode Island (URI). Bergeron has previously served in a variety of other volunteer roles at URI, including on the president’s advisory council, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences’ advisory council, the university’s Strategic Budget and Planning Council, the advisory committee for the recent search for a new president, and the search committee for a new dean of the university’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Until recently, he was member of the board of College Unbound, a fully accredited, nonprofit degree completion college in Providence, Rhode Island. In addition, Bergeron is supporting the efforts of a health care company in addressing the post-COVID nursing shortage.
Before joining American Progress, Bergeron had served for more than 35 years at the U.S. Department of Education. David rose through the ranks to end his long government career as acting assistant secretary for postsecondary education in the Obama administration—a position that entailed serving as the education secretary’s chief adviser on higher education issues and administering the grant and loan programs—and deputy assistant secretary for policy, planning, and innovation in the Office of Postsecondary Education.