The accreditation process and the federal role in shaping it are clearly of critical importance for ensuring all students have access to quality postsecondary options. And yet, due to the complexity of the relationship among the federal government, accreditors, and institutions, and the opacity of the accreditation process itself, there is little…

State policy leaders have an opportunity to take leadership in protecting students--and especially student veterans--from being targeted by predatory colleges. Given failings by the federal government to police for-profit colleges and to ensure basic rights for students to attend college without being defrauded, it now falls to the states to step…

The proposed College Affordability Act calls for a massive uptick in federal spending on higher education and increased access to federal student aid (which has been shown to inflate tuition), while easing the criteria for federal loan forgiveness, leaving the bill to American taxpayers. Americans need solutions that will drive down the price of…

For decades, remediation has kept predominantly Black and Latinx students in a detrimental cycle of spending tuition on coursework that does not count as a credit toward transferring or earning degrees. California Assembly Bill 705 was designed to tackle the inequitable challenges of remedial education at California's Community Colleges. However,…

This paper provides an overview of the United States higher education system. It gives readers introductory information about the size, scope and governance model of US higher education. This is a challenging task because higher education in the US is highly decentralized with no single 'system' coordinating all institutions of higher education…

This hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions examines reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, focusing on opportunities to improve student success. Following an opening and prepared statement by Honorable Lamar Alexander (Chairman, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions) and an opening statement by Honorable…

The Maine Community College System (MCCS or "System") is comprised of seven colleges, nine campuses, and six off-campus centers that are located within 25 miles of over 90% of Maine's population. The colleges offer one-year certificate and two-year associate degree programs that are designed to lead to direct employment or transfer to a…

The 1954 rulings in the United States Supreme Court cases of "Brown v Board of Education" was a landmark event in civil rights history. As momentous as the rulings were, they were not embraced by many Southern politicians. This was especially true in Virginia where Harry F. Byrd, Sr., U. S. Senator from Virginia, embarked on a campaign…

A new American majority of students is emerging on campuses, especially at community colleges. These students must delicately balance long hours at jobs they must have with the higher education they desire. Even though this emerging majority has fundamentally different needs, American higher education in general has been slow to change, continuing…