Since the signing of the Post-9/11 GI Bill in 2008, veteran enrollment in college has increased to numbers not seen since the end of World War II. This most recent iteration of the GI Bill provides education benefits for thirty-six months at a great cost to the taxpayers. Student veterans are a unique class of non-traditional students due to their…

The Post-9/11 GI Bill of 2009 dramatically increased the investment of federal funds that support service members leaving the military and using postsecondary educational institutions as the means of transitioning into the civilian workforce. The transitioning service members are often referred to as student veterans. The increased investment…

The purported "Golden Age" of American higher education, typically associated with the two decades following World War II, was marked by increasingly generous federal support of the nation's postsecondary institutions and their students. Unlike analyses that attribute this largesse to factors like geopolitics (i.e., a response to the…

Teacher education remains a largely unexplored area within the history of American education. This paper is an example of the types of state-specific stories that are needed as university administrators and policymakers make critical decisions about the content and purpose of teacher ed curriculum. These decisions, in turn, have a direct impact on…

Policy barriers at the national and state levels are preventing many student veterans from achieving their academic and professional potential. Layers of rigid rules determine when, where, and how post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients -- most student veterans -- can utilize their service-connected education benefits. Policymakers should work to knock down…

According to the Democratic Staff of the Joint Economic Committee, United States Congress (2017), "over 3.9 million soldiers have served in wartime, since September 11, 2001" ("Gulf War-era II Veterans," para. 1). The Post-9/11 Veterans Assistance Act of 2008 (GI Bill) "offers the 2 million Servicemembers who have served…

Purpose: America's College Promise (ACP) is a legislative initiative introduced by President Obama to increase access to higher education, to build the economy, and to support his earlier American Graduation Initiative. This legislation has the potential to settle among the ranks of the most influential federal higher education aid and access…

For-profit colleges do not always recruit aggressively; nor do they always shortchange students. But the problem of colleges systematically overpromising and underdelivering, when it does happen, has largely been a for-profit phenomenon. The abuses have been the most widespread and most damaging when they have been fueled by government grants and…

A long overdue, much needed transformation is underway in the higher education system. It started a decade ago, when federal and state policy­makers first began to collect data on what students earn after pursuing a postsecondary education. But new data are fundamentally differ­ent. Unlike broad-based national statistics, such as how much someone…

Federal legislation has driven and been receptive to the vision of a rigorous, relevant career and technical education (CTE) system integrated with academics and aligned across middle school, secondary school, and postsecondary education. This article uses a social policy analysis approach to trace the history of federal CTE policy throughout the…

Critical scholars have argued that mathematics education is in danger of becoming increasingly influenced by and aligned with neoliberal and neoconservative market-focused projects. Although this larger argument is powerful, there are often 2 peculiar responses to issues of race and racism within these analyses. These responses are characterized…

Federal education benefits for veterans represent a substantial investment--$18 billion since 2009 under the Post-9/11 GI Bill--in the development of a skilled American workforce. Unfortunately, this investment does not always pay off because many veterans encounter serious obstacles as they attempt to navigate the higher education system and the…

The curse of being the "new, new" thing was initially hung around the neck of the current incarnation of Quebec's "recognition of prior learning" program. However, this has changed as the program has evolved into a working service for Quebec residents. This article will examine the current public offering of the recognition of…

The 1947 President's Commission on Higher Education offers insight into higher education policy in the United States. This article reviews and assesses the adoption of its policy recommendations in two key areas: 1) improving college access and equity and 2) expanding the role of community colleges. (Contains 1 figure and 4 notes.)

This report discusses the current state of higher education, with a brief high-level overview of the market and a more detailed discussion and analysis of the financial aid system. It also discusses the important changes President Obama has made to make higher education more accessible and affordable. The key findings are: (1) The economic returns…