In spring 2022, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology (OET) committed to advancing digital equity through the Digital Equity Education Roundtables (DEER) Initiative. Through DEER, OET hosted a series of national conversations with leaders from community-based organizations, as well as families and learners furthest…

In July 2014, the U.S. Department of Education announced a new round of experimental sites focusing on competency-based education. Capella University was selected to participate in three of the Department of Education's competency-based education (CBE) experiments and began by implementing the prior learning assessment experiment, which allows…

Since the publication of the "College Scorecard" by The U.S. Department of Education in 2015, comparisons between college attendance costs and institutional outcomes (i.e., graduation rates, post-graduation earnings) have come into sharp focus. This increased scrutiny requires institutions of higher learning to be more transparent about…

The steadily growing body of literature on universities' contribution to democracy and civil society has repeatedly called for a re-examination of the nascent purposes of higher education and the nature of higher education's compact with society. Although more faculty and administrators explore ways to produce public scholarship, infuse their…

The federal government pays for a wide range of goods and services that are expected to be useful some years in the future. Those purchases, called investment, fall into three categories: physical capital, research and development (R&D), and education and training. There are several economic rationales for federal investment. It can provide…

President Obama's FY 2013 budget request includes another major spending increase for the Department of Education--2.5 percent more than last year--to nearly $70 billion. American taxpayers are calling for spending restraint in Washington, yet President Obama's proposals would exacerbate the existing bureaucratic maze of federal programs and…

While most in the academic community know about the attempt to rein in the for-profits, few are aware of its collateral damage. In October, the Department of Education (DOE) issued its Program Integrity Rules, intended to protect federal funds especially from those for-profit institutions with high student loan default rates. Well-intentioned…

The American higher education system is plagued by two chronic problems: dropouts and debt. Barely half of the students who start college get a degree within six years, and graduation rates at less-selective colleges often hover at 25 percent or less. At the same time, student loan debt is at an all-time high, recently passing credit card debt in…

Passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the creation of the Race to the Top (RTTT) Fund in early 2009 provide states (SEAs) and local school districts (LEAs) with an historic opportunity to develop and implement dramatic reforms to improve the rate at which students graduate ready for college and careers. This brief is…

Many education reporters are drawn to the beat because of its complexity and rich variety. Few topics provide such a wealth of political, business, human interest, breaking news, feature, and investigative stories. A reporter's day can start in a classroom with 4-year-olds struggling to learn to read, and end at a school board meeting with…

Reviews the work of John Brademas, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Select Education, with jurisdiction ranging from child care to federal role in cultural activities, and second ranking member of the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education. Notes his role in past legislation and his views on present issues. (JT)

The appointment of David Mathews, a 39-year-old Southerner and respected educator, as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare is reviewed with reference to his position on various issues and substantial hope and confidence among educational leaders that he will "deliver education from the bureaucratic doldrums." (JT)

The purposes of this report are to identify which federal agencies other than the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare have educational programs covered by Title IX; to survey those agencies to determine if they are enforcing Title IX by means of regulations, orders, or termination of funding; to identify problems of intragovernmental…

This publication reports on research and development expenditures projected for the year 1985. The support pattern for research and development activities within four major sectors of the economy are considered: industry, government, universities and colleges, and other nonprofit organizations. A summary of the projections methodology is followed…

The educational system is not producing or being allowed to produce the workforce we need. In the future we will need scientists, engineers, lawyers, poets, and philosophers who can understand, interpret, and harness the technologies of the future. Directions for a renewed federal commitment to education are suggested. (SR)