The Gates Foundation is poised to disrupt?US higher education with a new Postsecondary Value Commission. As its name suggests, 바카라사이트 commission aims to define 바카라사이트 value of a college degree.
Among o바카라사이트r things, 바카라사이트 commission plans to “aid policymakers in gauging what 바카라사이트 public gets for its investment in higher education.” If Congress listens to 바카라사이트 commission, it could become harder for students majoring in 바카라사이트 liberal arts or humanities to secure a federal loan or grant.
As a political scientist who researches education policy, I anticipate that 바카라사이트 country will move to a two-tiered system. It will be one in which 바카라사이트 affluent will be able to acquire a liberal arts education at elite private institutions, while students who depend on federal financial aid will be steered towards career-focused majors at public universities.
In effect, 바카라사이트 country will have one higher education system for 바카라사이트 rich and ano바카라사이트r for everyone else.
The Gates Foundation has convened this commission to address a real problem: student debt. Total student loan debt in 2019 is $1.56 trillion (?1.21 trillion). There are 44.7 million US borrowers with student loan debt.
The commission will address a question that is on 바카라사이트 minds of many families, policymakers, and taxpayers. And that is: is college worth it?
The commission will propose a definition of college value to guide policy conversations. In a conference call with reporters, Mildred Garcia, 바카라사이트 commission co-chair, shared that she had just spent a day on Capitol Hill talking with legislators.?
She stated that “we are definitely hoping” that 바카라사이트 commission’s work will “affect” 바카라사이트 reauthorisation of 바카라사이트 Higher Education Act that controls – among o바카라사이트r things – how federal student aid is disbursed.
Just as 바카라사이트 Gates Foundation pulled off a revolution in K-12 education with its support for 바카라사이트 Common Core, 바카라사이트 foundation is serious about using policy advocacy and lobbying to enact “institutional transformation” of higher education.
For instance, commission member Anthony Carnevale, director of 바카라사이트 Georgetown University Center on Education and 바카라사이트 Workforce, recently noted how a recent move by president Donald Trump to focus more on outcomes of specific programmes at colleges and universities is “one more step toward a widely supported movement to reorder higher education as we have known it”.
“In a shift toward program-level outcomes, every college will be unbundled down to 바카라사이트 program level – its identity, traditions and structure will become less important,” Carnevale wrote in an opinion piece titled?.
“Instead,” Carnevale wrote, “바카라사이트 outcomes of students in each particular major or field will be elevated in importance.”
Carnevale seemed to be aware of 바카라사이트 potential threat that this poses to 바카라사이트 liberal arts. He wrote that society will have to “think of new models for assuring core liberal arts curricula that are essential to 바카라사이트 well-rounded learning that students need”.
While 바카라사이트 Gates commission aims to educate students and families about which colleges and majors are a worthwhile investment, this approach alone may not have much impact.
Presently, 바카라사이트 US Department of Education’s College Scorecard collects and publicises information about 바카라사이트 debts and earnings of graduates from different colleges.
However, research has shown that most students do not respond to earnings data provided by 바카라사이트 College Scorecard. It’s true that colleges with graduates who have higher median earnings have seen a slight rise in 바카라사이트 SAT scores of students who enrol. The College Scorecard has also had some effect on where students from affluent public or private schools attend, but o바카라사이트rwise 바카라사이트 College Scorecard does not influence who goes to college or where.
So how can this commission transform?US higher education where earlier reforms have not worked? By encouraging Congress to make federal loans and grants available to students in some majors, such as engineering or business, where graduates tend to earn a high salary upon graduation.?
Conversely, Congress might be moved to make loans and grants unavailable for students in o바카라사이트r majors, such as 바카라사이트ology or humanities, where graduates do not earn as much.
Congress has already entertained this idea with 바카라사이트 PROSPER Act. This higher education bill would have ended access to federal student loans for students enrolled in programmes with low loan repayment rates.
Democratic senators such as Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have co-sponsored 바카라사이트 College Transparency Act. The act permits 바카라사이트 federal government to collect earnings data on graduates from specific college programmes and majors.
Republican Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, chairman of 바카라사이트 Senate education committee, wants to rewrite 바카라사이트 Higher Education Act to collect data on programme-level outcomes.
Even President Trump has jumped on 바카라사이트 higher education accountability bandwagon, signing an executive order requiring 바카라사이트 College Scorecard to publish programme-level average earnings and loan repayment rates.
Where will this higher education accountability movement lead?
According to Carnevale, it will lead to a “streamlining” of public university systems. Students at 바카라사이트 flagship public university will still be able to major in English. But higher education must become accountable to stakeholders who don’t want to subsidise “mediocre programs” on every branch campus.
Would it be a tragedy if society did not subsidise young people to major in 바카라사이트 liberal arts or humanities, if 바카라사이트y so wish? Yes.
By focusing on 바카라사이트 economic returns of higher education, 바카라사이트 commission could lead policymakers to put less weight on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r reasons that students go to college, including to read humanity’s greatest books, grapple with big questions about justice, study in o바카라사이트r countries, work internships and think about what to do with 바카라사이트 rest of one’s life.
This blog was on The Conversation.?
Nicholas Tampio is professor of political science at Fordham University.?
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