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In September 2006, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced her Action Plan for Higher Education. This plan, based on the recommendations of her Commission on the Future of Higher Education, is designed to help keep America competitive and provide students and families with more information and more affordable access to higher education. The Office of the Under Secretary is responsible for helping to implement the Secretary's Action Plan for Higher Education, which calls for expanding the accessibility, affordability, and accountability of higher education for more Americans.
Accessibility
Too few Americans prepare for, participate in, and complete higher education—especially those underserved and nontraditional groups who make up an ever-greater proportion of the population. The nation will rely on these groups as a major source of new workers as demographic shifts in the U.S. population continue. Improving access in America will require concurrent attention to high school and adult students.
The Secretary's proposal:
- Strengthen K-12 preparation and align high school standards with college expectations.
- Work with Congress to expand the successful principles of the No Child Left Behind Act to high schools.
- Redesign the 12th-grade NAEP (Nation's Report Card) test to provide state-level estimates of college and workforce readiness.
- Raise awareness and mobilize leadership to address the issue of adult literacy as a barrier to national competitiveness and individual opportunity.
- Develop a federal research agenda for adult literacy to identify strategies, models and programs that work.
Progress Updates
- More Resources to Increase College and Work Readiness
- Strengthening High Schools for the 21st Century
- More Need-Based Financial Aid for College-Ready Students
- First Year Data on Academic Competitiveness and National SMART Grants
- Executive Order on Strengthening Adult Education
- Bridge to College Grant
Affordability
Operating costs of the nation's colleges and universities have increased over the last quarter of a century at rates higher than other goods and services, even when accounting for increases in enrollment. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that the United States spends twice as much per student on postsecondary education as any other developed nation. In recent years, the price paid by students attending colleges and universities has risen substantially as a share of family income. Although sticker price is reduced in practice by financial aid, resulting in a lower net tuition actually paid by students, the increase in aid has not been awarded primarily based on need. As a result, not only are students shouldering a bigger share of college costs, lower-income families' access is disproportionately harmed.
The Secretary's proposal:
- Simplify the process by partnering with states to use existing income and tax data to help students complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in half the time.
- Notify students of their estimated aid eligibility before spring of their senior year in high school.
- Work with Congress to provide new funds for need-based aid through the federal financial aid system.
- Commission an independent management consultant review of the federal financial aid system.
- Revitalize the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) to promote innovation and productivity.
- Encourage organizations that report annual college data to develop consistent affordability measures.
Progress Updates
- Largest Pell Grant Increase in 30 Years in the President's Proposed Budget
- FAFSA4caster: A New Tool to Help Families Plan for College
- Task Force on Student Loans
- Negotiated Rulemaking for Higher Education
- Final regulations on Student Loans and Academic Competitiveness and National SMART Grants
- President signs bill for historic increases in Pell program
Accountability
Too many decisions about higher education, from those made by policymakers to those made by students and families, rely heavily on reputation and rankings derived to a large extent from inputs, such as financial resources, rather than outcomes. In an age where the public expects transparency and accountability for its tax dollars in almost every area of our government—from housing to health care to K-12 education—such measures are no longer adequate. Better data about college costs, productivity, and learning outcomes is absolutely essential if we are to meet national needs and improve institutional performance. It is clear that students, parents, and the public need and want more information about the quality of education for which they are paying. Increased transparency and a system of accountability can address growing public concerns about the value and quality of higher education.
The Secretary's proposal:
- Work with a consortium of states to build on and link together the 40 existing, privacy-protected higher education information systems.
- Explore incentives for states and institutions that collect and report student learning outcome data.
- Convene members of the accreditation community to recommend changes to the standards for recognition that will place a greater emphasis on results.
- Redesign the Department of Education's college search website to allow consumers to weigh and compare institutions based on their individual interests and needs.
Progress Updates