The Higher Education team works toward building an affordable and high-quality higher education system that supports economic mobility and racial equity.
A student at Rutgers University attends the 250th anniversary commencement ceremony on May 15, 2016, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. (Getty/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)
What We're Doing
Improving equity
Our team explores how to reform a higher education system that is failing to adequately serve students of color and other overlooked populations, including adults, student parents, part-time students, veterans, and individuals impacted by the justice system.
Ensuring college is affordable for all students
We call for changes to make college affordable for current and future students and their families. We also work to lift the burden of student debt and fix a troubled student loan repayment system for current and future borrowers.
Ensuring quality and protecting students and taxpayers
We advocate for a system where all colleges and programs offer a path to economic security and make sure their students reach the finish line. We also seek to hold education providers, accreditors, loan servicers, and other actors accountable for their service to students and 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.
How Colleges and Universities Can Bring Pell Grant-Funded Programs Back to Prisons
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 United States Must Support HBCUs and Opportunity for Black College Students
The recent rash of bomb threats against historically Black colleges and universities is just one of the numerous signs that America is at risk of winding the clock backward when it comes to opportunities for Black students in higher education.
The National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity: Overview and Resources
This page contains facts and resources about the role the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity plays within the accreditation system.
Holding Higher Education Accountable in Federal-State Partnerships
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.
