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Bradley D. Custer is a senior policy analyst for Higher Education at American Progress. He writes about a wide range of policy topics related to access, affordability, and accountability in U.S. higher education. He specializes in studying policy barriers that inhibit criminal justice system-impacted people from enrolling in and completing college, and he advocates for expanding college access and funding for students in prison and beyond.
Before joining American Progress, Custer worked at two public universities and a community college as a student affairs professional in the areas of student conduct, Title IX, student activities, and student success. His academic research is published in peer-reviewed journals in the fields of higher education, criminal justice, and law, including The Journal of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, Community College Journal of Research and Practice, Criminal Justice Policy Review, and Journal of College and University Law.
Custer holds a doctorate in higher, adult, and lifelong education from Michigan State University, a master’s in student affairs in higher education from Wright State University, and bachelor’s degrees in both instrumental music education and French from Capital University.
Bradly D. Custer submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Department of Education on the Prison Education Program regulation.
Student debt cancellation would help people of all ages, reduce the racial wealth gap, and help borrowers weather turmoil in the student loan system.
This article presents a timeline of recent events related to student loans and takes a look at what’s to come for student loan borrowers.
The nursing profession is critical to the health of the country and the economic security of millions of workers. This video shows how the nation can support its nurses.
The COVID-19 pandemic worsened a national shortage of registered nurses, making it increasingly urgent that policymakers invest in higher education, coordinate strategies to alleviate the pressures on the nursing workforce, and make the entire health care system more equitable and stable.
Major investments of federal funding and sustained coordination are needed to mitigate the impact of nursing shortages and improve the nation’s ability to improve the health care system.
A new process from the U.S. Department of Education outlines how higher education institutions can receive approval to offer Pell Grant-funded programs to incarcerated students.
The Biden administration is making important changes to protect student loan borrowers, but there is still more work to do.
This fact sheet outlines key findings and questions for using performance contracts in federal-state partnerships for higher education.
Colorado’s experiment with performance contracts in the College Opportunity Fund offers insights into how performance contracts could be used for accountability in federal-state partnership proposals for higher education.
Bradley D. Custer and Ella Azoulay submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Department of Education on the administration of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Eddie Phillips Jr. and Bradley D. Custer outline four steps that would enable community college leaders to meet the needs of justice-impacted students.
