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News, Views and Careers for All of Higher Education

Oct. 3, 2006

What Spellings Got Right and Wrong

By Edward M. Kennedy

Last week, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings laid out a promising agenda to keep our colleges and universities strong in this demanding age. As she rightly noted in her comments on the report of Commission on the Future of Higher Education, America’s public and private institutions of higher education are the envy of the world.

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But as we work to deal with the immense challenges of this rapidly changing time, it’s vital for our colleges and universities — fine as they now are — to be open to change, and Congress, the Department of Education, and the higher education community will need to work well together to find the way forward.

The commission and the Secretary are right to call attention to the nation’s unfinished business on college access, affordability, and accountability. It’s unacceptable that the average student now graduates with $17,500 in student loan debt, 73 percent of all colleges still find it necessary to offer remedial classes for entering students, and that only 15 percent of African American students and 10 percent of Latino students obtain bachelor’s degrees today, compared to 30 percent of white students.

As many have said, the Commission’s best recommendation is for an increase in the Pell Grant, so that the average award will cover 70 percent of the typical tuition at a four-year public college, compared to only 44 percent of the cost today. Unfortunately, Secretary Spellings backed away from that specific recommendation in her remarks, calling instead only for an “increase” in need-based grant aid. For the past four years, the maximum Pell Grant has been frozen at $4,050 a year, contributing to the crushing debt that burdens so many today. As a result, the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance estimates that up to 2.4 million qualified students will fail to obtain bachelor’s degrees this decade because of financial barriers.

It’s also disappointing that neither the commission nor the Secretary went further to discuss needed reforms of the federal student loan programs, which provide over $60 billion a year to support students’ postsecondary education — more than any other source. During the commission’s deliberations, Chairman Charles Miller said he wanted to “avoid getting bogged down” in specific discussions about these complicated programs. The commission’s report, which issues a broad call for the entire student financial aid system to be restructured, reflects that.

Had the commission peeled back the layers, it would have quickly uncovered the many details of federal student loan programs that bedevil students and families every day in their struggle to pay for college. The government squanders billions of education dollars each year to guarantee that private lenders bear virtually no risk when they make loans. It rewards lenders more for collecting on defaulted loans than for keeping borrowers in good standing. It inexplicably favors subsidies for private lenders, instead of the government’s own far less expensive Direct Loan program.

Obvious reforms could make the current dysfunctional student loan system far more effective. We could generate $13 billion in new Pell Grants over the next 10 years simply by allowing fair competition between the privately funded loan programs and the Direct Loan program. We could expand income-contingent repayment for student loans, so that borrowers would not have to allocate more than 15 percent of their monthly income to loan re-payments. We could grant loan forgiveness after 10 years to those in public service professions such as teaching, public health, and law enforcement. No debate about the future of higher education can move forward effectively without addressing this urgent problem. It’s time to throw the money lenders out of the temple of higher education.

It’s also time to give higher priority to community colleges. They now enroll 45 percent of all undergraduates, but they’re frequently an afterthought in discussions of education policy and funding. Community colleges do more to promote college access and equity than any other aspect of higher education. More is demanded of them as well — from educating first-time, low-income, and immigrant students to educating adults seeking new careers and workers seeking better skills for their current jobs.

Community colleges received little mention in the commission’s report or the Secretary’s speech, but many of their recommendations are directly applicable to two-year programs. In Massachusetts, for example, community colleges work directly with high schools to align the school curriculum to college-level work. They help underprepared and nontraditional students advance to college. Through their links to area Workforce Investment Boards and regional development, they advance the commission’s recommendation that higher education do more to promote career pathways for students.

Implementing these recommendations may be easy — but moving forward with others will be difficult, such as the commission’s call for colleges to measure student learning through standardized assessments. In addition, many states — including Massachusetts — have developed databases to track students’ progress through higher education, but significant questions exist about creating a national database. Obviously, these ideas require serious study and discussion involving both the higher education community and Congress.

Sixty years ago, our country and our higher education system stood at a similar crossroads. Hundreds of thousands of G.I.’s had returned home from World War II, eager for new skills, new opportunities, and their chance for the American Dream. The Cold War presented a frontal challenge to our place in the world. In response, President Harry Truman appointed the nation’s first Commission on Higher Education, an unprecedented effort that brought an end to racial discrimination in college admissions, built on the success of the G.I. Bill by enacting new grant and scholarship programs for students, and spurred the rigorous development of our community colleges.

With that same kind of vision today, we can use our remarkable system of higher education to help turn this era of globalization into a new era of opportunity for America. Secretary Spellings and her commission deserve our gratitude for launching this dialogue. Now it’s up to all of us to chart the rest of the path.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) is the senior Democrat on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

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Comments

EARN TO LEARN

What is a ‘grant?’ Translation: take from the middle-class and give someone else. “Grant” is just another way of saying welfare. The writer and his supporters can make the word prettier, but it still means the same.

Further – there have been serious questions raised about (1) the actual need for a B.A. and (2) whether there truly is a shortage of colleges. As to (1), it has been empirically proven that many fields whose work does NOT require a B.A. do, in fact, require one. Why?

As to (2), research by Greene (U. of Ark.) has empirically shown that everyone with the ability to go to college, is in college. In fact, research by Vedder (Ohio U.) indicates that easy access to government-subsidized student loans has financially propped-up small colleges that otherwise would go out of business.

And, as usual, there is no mention of colleges being responsible for restraining their costs to the general rate of inflation. Without a firm, dedicated commitment to that goal, the writer and his friends are merely supporting inflationary fiscal policies that remind those with common sense of pre-Nazi Germany. (BTW: that includes GWB.)

As to any alleged preference to private lenders to government programs – hey, look at what great work was accomplished with Hurricane Katrina and the Great Society. Let’s make the same mistakes, again.

As to this “ .. we could grant loan forgiveness after 10 years to those in public service professions such as teaching, public health, and law enforcement ..” Those positions often have 50 applicants per position. So — the selected applicants wins the loan-foregiveness lotto and the other 49 are out of luck?

Finally, as to this “ .. sixty years ago, our country and our higher education system stood at a similar crossroads ..” That’s correct — sixty years ago. Ice cream was a nickel a cone. Asia and Europe were in ruins. If the writer and his supporters think the same conditions exist today – they are out of their minds. Today, the U.S. is a debtor nation, federal entitlements are racing out of control, and Asia is rising. Wake up, and face reality, people.

B.D., Engin. Faculty at Small college, at 7:10 am EDT on October 3, 2006

Senator Kennedy hit one of the nails on the head. The repay rates are exhorbitant in relation to incomes so many graduates may expect in the beginning years of their career. Too, public servants should be rewarded. If loan reduction and forgiveness programs exist for graduates who teach in public schools located in critical need areas, why not the same programs for those who go on to teach at the college level? The salaries are similar, often the public school teacher earning more in terms of dollars and benefits than the college professor. You are correct, Senator, when you call for chasing the “money lenders out of higher education.”

doc, at 7:10 am EDT on October 3, 2006

Community Colleges

Kennedy is right that Community Colleges bear the brunt of academic challenges. Students requiring remediation and specific services are channeled through Community Colleges. These students demand significant amounts of time, attention and resources because in many ways, the Community College serves to “fill in the gaps” left by a struggling K-12 system and by economically challenged communities. Community College instructors are “in the trenches” every day serving as bridges to further education in a four-year system. Yes, Community College instructors continue to be underpaid and often receive no benefits including health insurance and paid sick leave.

At a time when a college degree is necessary to any kind of career advancement, and at a time when Community Colleges already take on the same challenges and responsibilities of public schools, I believe Community Colleges should be further integrated with the K-12 system...meaning instead of having a K-12 system, we would have a kind of K-14 system which would better prepare our students for working and succeeding in a global economy.

Pell grants are one way to support this mission. Financial Aid overhaul is another way. Communications between high schools and Community Colleges serve as yes another means. These are all great beginnings to what could result in huge advancement for public education.

kgotthardt, at 9:05 am EDT on October 3, 2006

ACCESS

I think many would (and should) disagree with B.D.’s contention that “everyone with the ability to go to college, is in college.” It is irresponsible to ignore the fact that for many qualified,low SES students, college is less likely to be an option. There is a significant gap between the college going rates of higher income students vs. that of comparably qualified lower income students. If you’re interested in access issues, it’s worth reading some of the reports by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, a non-partisan group, and checking out the Lumina Foundation’s website.

S.B., at 10:17 am EDT on October 3, 2006

The facts

” .. I think many would (and should) disagree with B.D.’s contention .. “

Not my contention. Dr. Greene’s. Per

http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/ewp_03.htm

Don’t let the facts get in the way of your politics? Don’t be surprised if your political views are challeged.

B.D, at 11:55 am EDT on October 3, 2006

Conservative “facts”

B.D. wrote

“The facts

” .. I think many would (and should) disagree with B.D.’s contention .. “

Not my contention. Dr. Greene’s. Per

http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/ewp_03.htm

Don’t let the facts get in the way of your politics? Don’t be surprised if your political views are challeged.”

That’s rich. Thanks B.D. for those objective “facts” from the Manhattan Institute. No ideological bias there! What a charming blend of arrogance and disingenuousness. How convenient that your pet think tank has possession of the “facts” while others are playing politics.

Cacambo, at 2:05 pm EDT on October 3, 2006

Make conclusions on broad range of research

It’s unfortunate that we live in such a polarized society where we politicize everything. In light of that fact, we should consult a broad array of research that serves as the foundation for our statements instead of one source that is perceived as right-leaning. The left is just as guilty of this one-sided tactic.

Dr. Greene’s research is based on his own method (talk about objectivity) and “estimations.” His findings fly in the face of the vast majority of research which consistently concludes that finances prevents thousands of students from attending college.

Check out some of the reports on the DoE website and do a better job of being fully informed:http://www.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/acsfa/edlite-4proginfo.html

BBFaculty, at 5:45 pm EDT on October 3, 2006

What Spellings Left Out

The following comment is with reference to Senator Kennedy’s remarks, “What Spellings Got Right and Wrong,” http://insidehighered.com/views/2006/10/03/kennedy.

The Senator expressed disappointment that neither the commission nor the Secretary discussed needed reforms of the federal student loan programs. I found it even more disappointing that they did not discuss needed reforms in big-time commercial college sports — the contaminating elephant in the living room of higher education. It is my view that no debate about the future of higher education can move forward effectively without standing up to the NCAA cartel and resolving issues related to the academic side of college athletics.

The power of big-time commercial college sports is especially evident at a major events such as basketball’s March Madness, the football-season-ending BCS games, homecoming games and the like. It is difficult to not be taken up in the collective euphoria associated with such events. The customs, traditions, and emotions create an effective cover for what’s wrong with college sports. In that atmosphere, even the most thoughtful citizen is apt to be carried away — suffering the loss of his or her critical faculties — not realizing that big-time commercial college sports serve as an incubator for all manner of ills besetting institutions of higher education.

None the least of these ills have been the loss of academic integrity, distraction of school administrators, and a warping of institutional priorities in favor of athletics along with a trickle-down impact on the youth of America. For example, see Selena Roberts’ “Football Grows. And Students Go the Way of the T. Rex,” [The New York Times, Oct. 1, 2006], and Frank Deford’s “No Athlete Left Behind,” [SI.com, Sept. 27, 2006, http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/...frank_deford/09/26/mywill/index.html].

Roberts provides yet another example of the “student-athlete” ruse and why every effort need be made to hold schools accountable for their performance via disclosure and independent, trustworthy oversight of college athlete academics. Disclosure would help to lift the veil of secrecy that shrouds the phony basis for the tax-exempt status of big-time college sports that helps fuel the athletics arms race.

As we have been reminded by B. D., “Today, the U.S. is a debtor nation, federal entitlements are racing out of control, and Asia is rising.” But who cares? The mantle of leadership in college sports reform has been dropped by the Knight Commission and has yet to be taken up by our elected officials — sadly, it may never be, see “College Sports Reform: Tempus Fugit, ” http://thedrakegroup.org/Splitt_College_Sports_Reform.pdf. For more on the subject, see http://thedrakegroup.org/splittessays.html.

Frank G. Splitt, Member at The Drake Group, at 10:01 am EDT on October 4, 2006

Conservative Claptrap

Thank goodness for people like Senator Kennedy. I’m sick to death of conservative claptrap and saber-rattling. Grants as welfare? Gimme a break. What ever happened to the idea that Americans live in a community and that all those who think they’re self-made could have never accomplished a thing without the collectively assembled infrastructure that made it possible?

Shout and rail all you want, but here’s what I know: I grew up working class and was the first male in my extended family to get a HS degree, let alone a BA, MA, and PhD. What made this possible was that in the 1970s the federal government—that entity, by the way, that’s supposed to be for all ‘the people’ not just those who can afford small pvt colleges in MN—provided enough *grant* money for me to attend. Without it, myself and many others aren’t logging onto this site to have this conversation.

If neo-cons want to see this as welfare, you’ll excuse me if I shed no tears over their self-induced chest-thumping bruises. I say we replace the word *welfare* with another: sanctimonious elitism.

I’m damn proud Ted Kennedy is my senator.

Rob, at 11:00 am EDT on October 6, 2006

BD’s an ideologue, not a professor

BD is clearly letting his politics overwhelm his critical thinking abilities. A a high school dropout — and an Ivy League honors student who graduated 20 years late — I serve as proof that the availability of opportunity often trumps preparation. And, I am not alone. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), older students consistently achieve higher grades than their traditionally-aged counterparts. And, again, according the NCES, their graduation and retention rates are lower due to financial and family concerns more than issues involving preparation. To equate grants with “welfare” is to ignore the vast improvement in wages, and therefore, the increased spending power and tax revenues generated by state, federal, and university grants. While my personal experience tends toward the “far right tail of the curve,” I can assure you that the vast majority of graduating mature students end up repaying their grants through increased state, federal, sales, and property tax revenues within only a few short years.

Higher education grants for traditional and nontraditional students are an investment in the intellectual infrastructure of our nation — and the foundation for our nation’s economic security.

Nontraditional Student, AB, Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa at Cornell University, at 6:50 am EDT on October 15, 2006

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