Education

Higher Education Policy

The Higher Education team works toward building an affordable and high-quality higher education system that promotes economic mobility, racial equity, and a strong democracy.

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

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.

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.

Improving equity

Our team explores how to reform a higher education system that is failing to adequately serve all students, including adults, student parents, students of color, part-time students, veterans, and other overlooked populations.

The Higher Education team works toward building an affordable and high-quality higher education system that promotes economic mobility, racial equity, and a strong democracy.

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Featured work

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Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Colleges Will Put University Presidents in Legal Jeopardy Article
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a meeting.

Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Colleges Will Put University Presidents in Legal Jeopardy

The White House’s proposed Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education is unconstitutional, unlawful, and will put universities and their administrators at direct risk from a politicized Justice Department.

The State of Online Higher Education in 2025 Past Event

The State of Online Higher Education in 2025

Join the Center for American Progress to discuss the current challenges in monitoring and regulating online higher education.

Online

State Fact Sheets: How the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans Are Increasing Costs for American Families Fact Sheet
The Capitol dome reflected in water on pavement

State Fact Sheets: How the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans Are Increasing Costs for American Families

This series of fact sheets provides insights into how the OBBBA and the administration’s policies will increase the costs of health care, food, energy, and borrowing in each state in the near future.

The Full Cost of Attendance: Addressing Housing, Food, and Other Barriers to Community College Student Success Report
Students walk past the library at East Los Angeles College on September 27, 2022, Los Angeles, California.

The Full Cost of Attendance: Addressing Housing, Food, and Other Barriers to Community College Student Success

Although community colleges offer low tuition, students still face steep costs for essentials such as housing, food, transportation, child care, and supplies—barriers that policymakers must address to make college truly affordable.

10 Egregious Things You May Not Know About the One Big Beautiful Bill Act Article
Members of the House walk up the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

10 Egregious Things You May Not Know About the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

Congressional Republicans’ radical budget and tax bill includes several less-known provisions that will increase costs, fuel the Trump administration’s overreach, and waste taxpayer dollars.

5 Ways Community Colleges Drive Workforce Development Report
A student stands in the shade at East Los Angeles College.

5 Ways Community Colleges Drive Workforce Development

Community colleges play a vital role in workforce development by offering accessible education, aligning programs with industry needs, providing upskilling opportunities, fostering local partnerships, and supporting lifelong learning for diverse populations.

Madison Weiss

Congressional Republicans’ Proposed Budget Reconciliation Bill Imperils 4.4 Million Pell Grant Recipients Article
Students are seen walking across a college campus.

Congressional Republicans’ Proposed Budget Reconciliation Bill Imperils 4.4 Million Pell Grant Recipients

Proposed changes to Pell Grant eligibility could mean nearly two out of three recipients could lose some or all their federal grant aid and incur up to an additional total of $7,400 for a bachelor’s degree and $3,700 for an associate degree.

Sara Partridge

What Will Happen to Your Student Loans if Trump Closes the Department of Education? In the News

What Will Happen to Your Student Loans if Trump Closes the Department of Education?

In an op-ed published by Teen Vogue, Stephanie Hall outlines what student loan borrowers can expect if the Trump administration successfully shutters the U.S. Department of Education.

Teen Vogue

Stephanie Hall

Reorienting Colleges Toward Student-Centered Practices Report
A student sits in a college lecture hall at the University of Texas at Austin, February 22, 2024.

Reorienting Colleges Toward Student-Centered Practices

Colleges, universities, and policymakers can draw lessons from the evolution of patient-centered care in the health care system to create a more responsive and inclusive higher education system.

Stephanie Hall, Madison Weiss

Letter to Under Secretary James Kvaal Regarding the Incentive Compensation Ban Article

Letter to Under Secretary James Kvaal Regarding the Incentive Compensation Ban

Along with other student, consumer, and labor advocates, the Center for American Progress sent a letter calling on the Department of Education to close a loophole in the federal ban on incentive compensation.

A Progressive Vision for Education in the 21st Century Report
A student in graduation robes walks across a stage where an American flag flies.

A Progressive Vision for Education in the 21st Century

This report encompasses key recommendations for strengthening the American education system across early childhood education, K-12 education, higher education, and workforce development.

Jared C. Bass

Veterans face hidden dangers in online learning In the News

Veterans face hidden dangers in online learning

In an op-ed published by Stars and Stripes, Stephanie Hall and co-author William Hubbard explain how the third-party contractors who manage virtual higher education programs take advantage of prospective students and can even undermine their GI Bill of Rights benefits.

Stars and Stripes

Stephanie Hall, William Hubbard

New Student Debt Relief Policies Fix Broken Promises and Benefit Borrowers Most in Need Article
A graduating student celebrates during the University of Massachusetts Boston commencement ceremony.

New Student Debt Relief Policies Fix Broken Promises and Benefit Borrowers Most in Need

The Biden-Harris administration proposed new regulations that would bring the share of student loan borrowers across the country who receive full or partial relief to about 3 in 4, targeting those who are the most likely to struggle repaying their debt.

Sara Partridge, Madison Weiss, Brendan Duke

CAP Comment Urges the U.S. Secretary of Education To Protect Student Interests Amid Potential Online Program Manager Concerns Article

CAP Comment Urges the U.S. Secretary of Education To Protect Student Interests Amid Potential Online Program Manager Concerns

The Center for American Progress submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Secretary of Education highlighting concerns about the online program manager industry.

Stephanie Hall, Dr. Amber Villalobos, Dr. Edward Conroy

Comment to Middle States Commission on Higher Education Regarding Third-Party Providers Policy and Procedures Article

Comment to Middle States Commission on Higher Education Regarding Third-Party Providers Policy and Procedures

This public comment, submitted by the Center for American Progress, asks the Middle States Council on Higher Education to clarify its proposed policy for reviewing its member institutions' arrangements with third-party providers.

Stephanie Hall, Madison Weiss

House Republican Budget Threatens Public Education and Opportunity for Young People Article
Empty elementary school classroom

House Republican Budget Threatens Public Education and Opportunity for Young People

House Republican leadership’s proposed funding bill would vastly cut support for economically disadvantaged students and eliminate important programs in the K-12 education, youth workforce development, and higher education spheres.

Paige Shoemaker DeMio, Allie Pearce, Tania Otero Martinez, 1 More Marcella Bombardieri

2023 CAP IDEAS Conference Past Event
CAP IDEAS Conference logo

2023 CAP IDEAS Conference

Join the Center for American Progress as we celebrate 20 years of innovative policy solutions and look boldly forward to a progressive future.

The Future of Student Debt Relief: What To Expect Next Article
A “class of 2023” cap and tassel are seen.

The Future of Student Debt Relief: What To Expect Next

With the student loan payment pause ending in September 2023, this column helps to answer questions borrowers may have about what the Biden-Harris administration is doing to pursue debt relief and what to expect in the upcoming negotiated rulemaking that will take place from October through December 2023.

The Tortured Path of the Gainful Employment Rule Article
The Capitol building seen at the top of outdoor stairs

The Tortured Path of the Gainful Employment Rule

As the U.S. Department of Education prepares to publish its final gainful employment rule, learn more about the history of this key consumer safeguard meant to eliminate the worst actors before multitudes of students fall prey to poor practices.

Madison Weiss

An Overlooked Financial Aid Tool Can Help More Adults Reach College Report
Department of Education exterior

An Overlooked Financial Aid Tool Can Help More Adults Reach College

The Ability to Benefit provision for federal financial aid is underutilized but has great potential to increase educational attainment among adults without high school diplomas.

Bradley D. Custer

Funding for Federal Student Aid: A Defining Moment for Higher Education Programs Testimony

Funding for Federal Student Aid: A Defining Moment for Higher Education Programs

Jared C. Bass, senior director for Higher Education at the Center for American Progress, testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education on the importance of funding for the Office of Federal Student Aid.

Jared C. Bass

CAP’s Comment on the Income-Driven Repayment Regulation Article

CAP’s Comment on the Income-Driven Repayment Regulation

In a comment letter submitted to the U.S. Department of Education, Bradley D. Custer discusses income-driven repayment regulation and the need for a student loan repayment system with a functional safety net.

Bradley D. Custer

At Navajo Technical University, a World-Class Laboratory Is Building Native American Manufacturing Capacity Article
2022 Navajo Tech graduate Marcie Vandever works at a computer.

At Navajo Technical University, a World-Class Laboratory Is Building Native American Manufacturing Capacity

In the third and final installment in a series on Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), the Center for American Progress and American Indian College Fund examine how a Tribal university in New Mexico is creating engineering and advanced manufacturing career opportunities on the rural Navajo Nation.

Marcella Bombardieri, Dina M. Horwedel

A Minnesota Tribal College Teaches Law Enforcement in Effort To Put More Native Americans ‘Behind the Badge’ Article
Jamie Allen of the White Earth Police Department conducts a demonstration for LLTC students.

A Minnesota Tribal College Teaches Law Enforcement in Effort To Put More Native Americans ‘Behind the Badge’

In the second installment in a three-part series on Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), the Center for American Progress and American Indian College Fund look at Leech Lake Tribal College’s law enforcement degree program and the college’s work on cultural revitalization and basic needs insecurity.

Marcella Bombardieri, Dina M. Horwedel

CAP’s Comment on Accessing President Biden’s Debt Relief Plan and the Education Department’s Fresh Start Initiative Article

CAP’s Comment on Accessing President Biden’s Debt Relief Plan and the Education Department’s Fresh Start Initiative

This coalition letter, led by the Center for American Progress, asks the U.S. Department of Education to work closely with the U.S. Department of Justice to distribute information about student loan debt relief to incarcerated student loan borrowers.

Bradley D. Custer

For Native Americans, Tribal Colleges Tackle the ‘Present-Day Work of Our Ancestors’ Article
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona  delivers the commencement address at Salish Kootenai College.

For Native Americans, Tribal Colleges Tackle the ‘Present-Day Work of Our Ancestors’

In the first installment in a series on Tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), the Center for American Progress and American Indian College Fund explore the essential role TCUs play in their communities and why investing in them should be a priority for policymakers.

Marcella Bombardieri, Dina M. Horwedel

The Supreme Court Censoring History and Race Would Be a Mistake Article
Photo shows the U.S. Supreme Court behind a security fence.

The Supreme Court Censoring History and Race Would Be a Mistake

Race-conscious remedies, such as voting rights protections and affirmative action in college admissions, are supported by the Constitution, are a part of American history, and are essential to equal opportunity.

Nicole Lee Ndumele, Ben Olinsky, Marcella Bombardieri

After We Cancel the Debt Past Event

After We Cancel the Debt

The Future of Higher Education in a Post-Debt Cancellation United States

Online only

CAP’s Comment on the Prison Education Program Regulation In the News

CAP’s Comment on the Prison Education Program Regulation

Bradly D. Custer submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Department of Education on the Prison Education Program regulation.

Regulations.gov

Bradley D. Custer

5 Things To Know About Debt Cancellation Article
Student loan borrowers gather near the White House to urge President Joe Biden to cancel student debt

5 Things To Know About Debt Cancellation

Student debt cancellation would help people of all ages, reduce the racial wealth gap, and help borrowers weather turmoil in the student loan system.

Ella Azoulay, Jared C. Bass, Marcella Bombardieri, 1 More Bradley D. Custer

Timeline: Federal Student Loans During the COVID-19 Pandemic Article
Students wear their graduation gowns outside of the White House.

Timeline: Federal Student Loans During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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.

Bradley D. Custer, Ella Azoulay

After President Biden Cancels Student Debt Report
Three borrowers holding signs that say Cancel Student Debt

After President Biden Cancels Student Debt

Meeting the urgency of the college affordability and student debt crisis will require bold action to restore the promise of opportunity for all Americans.

Jared C. Bass, Jesse O’Connell

Video: How To Ease the U.S. Nursing Shortage Video

Video: How To Ease the U.S. Nursing Shortage

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.

Marina Zhavoronkova, Bradley D. Custer, Anona Neal, 3 More Ala Al Sadi, Toni Pandolfo, Hai-Lam Phan

How To Ease the Nursing Shortage in America Report
Nurse wearing a face shield and mask

How To Ease the Nursing Shortage in America

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.

Marina Zhavoronkova, Bradley D. Custer, Anona Neal, 2 More Justin Schweitzer, Marcella Bombardieri

Fact Sheet: Easing the American Nursing Shortage Fact Sheet
A registered nurse and a respiratory therapist

Fact Sheet: Easing the American Nursing Shortage

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.

Marina Zhavoronkova, Bradley D. Custer, Anona Neal, 2 More Justin Schweitzer, Marcella Bombardieri

The Case for a Longer Student Loan Repayment Pause Article

The Case for a Longer Student Loan Repayment Pause

The Biden administration is making important changes to protect student loan borrowers, but there is still more work to do.

Bradley D. Custer, Marcella Bombardieri

The United States Must Support HBCUs and Opportunity for Black College Students Article
Close-up of Howard University graduate

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.

Jared C. Bass, Marcella Bombardieri

Holding Higher Education Accountable in Federal-State Partnerships Report

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.

Bradley D. Custer

Q&A With CAP’s New Senior Vice President for Education, Jesse O’Connell Article

Q&A With CAP’s New Senior Vice President for Education, Jesse O’Connell

Jesse O'Connell, the new senior vice president for Education at the Center for American Progress, talks about the opportunities this moment offers to improve early childhood, K-12, and higher education in the United States.

Jesse O’Connell

Comment on FR Doc # 2021-15831 In the News

Comment on FR Doc # 2021-15831

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.

Regulations.gov

Bradley D. Custer, Ella Azoulay

4 Key Steps to Support Justice-Impacted Students In the News

4 Key Steps to Support Justice-Impacted Students

Eddie Phillips Jr. and Bradley D. Custer outline four steps that would enable community college leaders to meet the needs of justice-impacted students.

Inside Higher Ed

Eddie Phillips Jr., Bradley D. Custer

Comment on FR Doc # 2021-11120 (“Negotiated Rulemaking Committee; Public Hearings”) In the News

Comment on FR Doc # 2021-11120 (“Negotiated Rulemaking Committee; Public Hearings”)

CAP's Higher Education team worked with Generation Progress to write a comment letter to the Office of Postsecondary Education on its intent to establish negotiated rule-making committees.

Regulations.gov

Marshall Anthony Jr., Ella Azoulay, Bradley D. Custer, 2 More Marissa Alayna Navarro, Victoria Yuen

Expanding Access to Higher Education and the Promise It Holds Testimony

Expanding Access to Higher Education and the Promise It Holds

Marshall Anthony Jr., senior policy analyst for Higher Education at the Center for American Progress, testified on the importance of expanding access to higher education before the House Ways and Means Committee on June 29, 2021.

Marshall Anthony Jr.

Covid-19 changed education in America — permanently In the News

Covid-19 changed education in America — permanently

Marcella Bombardieri explains how the COVID-19 pandemic has permanently changed education in the United States.

Politico

Marcella Bombardieri

American Rescue Plan Could Help Prevent State Public Higher Education Cuts Report
President Joe Biden speaks from the State Dining Room at the White House following the passage of the American Rescue Plan in the U.S. Senate, March 6, 2021, in Washington. (Getty/Samuel Corum)

American Rescue Plan Could Help Prevent State Public Higher Education Cuts

States cut funding for public higher education by $1.9 billion this year; they must take advantage of state and local aid in the latest stimulus bill to avoid budget cuts next year.

Victoria Yuen

The History of Denying Federal Financial Aid to System-Impacted Students In the News

The History of Denying Federal Financial Aid to System-Impacted Students

Bradley D. Custer writes about the historical context of denying system-impacted students access to federal financial aid.

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Bradley D. Custer

Community colleges have a big local impact — they deserve local funding In the News

Community colleges have a big local impact — they deserve local funding

Author Marcella Bombardieri explains how community colleges—which largely serve low- and middle-income students—have been weakened by years of underfunding and argues that they need local funding.

The Boston Globe

Marcella Bombardieri

The State of Higher Education Spending From the CARES Act Article
University students walk across their school's campus in Columbia, South Carolina, on September 3, 2020. (Getty/Sean Rayford)

The State of Higher Education Spending From the CARES Act

While students have received most of the emergency funds set aside for them, institutions must spend down funds from other sources.

Marshall Anthony Jr., Marissa Alayna Navarro

Federal Financial Aid for College Students With Criminal Convictions Interactive
Amendments for H.R. 6 are stacked high during a House Education and Labor Committee markup of pending legislation, March 1998. (Getty/Congressional Quarterly/Douglas Graham)

Federal Financial Aid for College Students With Criminal Convictions

A timeline from the 1960s to the present shows that college students with criminal convictions have lost more access to financial aid than they have gained.

Bradley D. Custer

3 Ways Congress Can Support Adult Students During COVID-19 Article
A woman and her son leave a classroom on the Fort Omaha Campus of Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 1, 2018. (Getty/Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

3 Ways Congress Can Support Adult Students During COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic is exacerbating the challenges facing higher education’s overlooked majority and underscores the need for more financial aid and access to technology.

Marshall Anthony Jr.

Tapping Local Support To Strengthen Community Colleges Report
A community college student works at a computer in the library. (Getty/Kathryn Scott Osler)

Tapping Local Support To Strengthen Community Colleges

Expanding local appropriations could help provide the resources that community colleges need to boost social mobility in their regions.

Marcella Bombardieri

Now Is the Time To Fix Cohort Default Rates Article
A college student studies in Irvine, California, October 2020. (Getty/Orange County Register/MediaNews Group/Paul Bersebach)

Now Is the Time To Fix Cohort Default Rates

Due to the pandemic, colleges likely won’t be held accountable for borrower outcomes for several years; policymakers should use this as an opportunity to fix the system.

Ben Miller

The Looming Student Loan Servicing Crisis Article
A U.S. flag flies above a building as students participate in a graduation ceremony in Pasadena, California, on June 14, 2019. (Getty/AFP/Robyn Beck)

The Looming Student Loan Servicing Crisis

The Trump administration’s inability to complete a new student loan servicing competition has set 33 million borrowers up for potential disaster next year.

Ben Miller

The $78 Billion Community College Funding Shortfall Report
FREDERICK, MD - OCTOBER 6: Students study and eat in the student center at Frederick Community College, on October 6, 2015 in Frederick, Maryland. About 16,000 students of all ages attend college at FCC. Tuition and fees are about half of what they are at four-year public colleges in Maryland. Financial aid options help make learning more accessible for all students. People living in this small city have a median income a bit above the national median. Its homeownership rate is a bit below average. (Photo by Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images)

The $78 Billion Community College Funding Shortfall

A closer look at the revenue gaps between community colleges and public four-year institutions reveals significant inequities and underscores the need for reform.

Victoria Yuen

Among Forests and Bayous, a Fledgling College and Fragile Dreams Report

Among Forests and Bayous, a Fledgling College and Fragile Dreams

The story of central Louisiana’s new community college holds lessons on improving opportunity in rural America—lessons that should help guide leaders responding to the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic.

Marcella Bombardieri

The best route for moving up is in danger of being blocked In the News

The best route for moving up is in danger of being blocked

Through the lens of a community college student in rural Louisiana, Marcella Bombardieri describes why Congress must invest sufficiently in public colleges amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Boston Globe

Marcella Bombardieri

How Much Money Each College Can Receive From the CARES Act Article
The U.S. Department of Education building is pictured in Washington on April 2, 2020. (Getty/Caroline Brehman)

How Much Money Each College Can Receive From the CARES Act

Download a spreadsheet to see how much funding each U.S. college can receive through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, by institution type, state, and other groupings.

Ben Miller

How Betsy DeVos Failed Colleges and Students in Implementing the CARES Act Article
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos testifies during a hearing before the House Education and Labor Committee, December 12, 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. (Getty/Alex Wong)

How Betsy DeVos Failed Colleges and Students in Implementing the CARES Act

Nearly three months after Congress directed billions of dollars to higher education in response to the coronavirus, Education Department decisions have created uncertainty for colleges and prevented potentially thousands of students from receiving relief.

Ben Miller

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