independent policy analyst
Independent policy analyst in Washington, DC, who has been involved in federal higher education issues for more than 20, including as former Associate Executive Director of AACRAO, the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
Student Debt Crisis With the cost of a college education going up so fast, students are graduating with more and more debt, and a growing number of them are defaulting on that debt. That’s bad for their future finances, and it could have a huge impact on the U.S. economy.
Solving the Student Loan Nightmare More than 20 million students are expected to fill out FAFSA -- the Free Application for Federal Student Aid -- this year: 108 questions spread over 10 pages. And 72 pages of instructions. Now two U.S. senators have proposed reducing the form to the length of a postcard with just two questions.
Student Aid and College Failure As the gap grows between the rich and the poor in America's evolving economy, financial aid for college is supposed to be a great equalizer, but it's not working out that way. While 70 percent of wealthiest students graduate, just 26 percent of the poorest make it, even with $226 billion in aid for the academically qualified. Dropouts are left with tens of thousands of dollars in student-loan debt, but without diplomas to get good jobs to help pay it off. Is it time to reform student aid so it helps improve future prospects instead of making them worse?
Will College Become Unaffordable for a Majority of Americans? A moment ago, we heard about increased unemployment in the United States. The unemployment rate for college and university graduates is half what it is for the workforce as a whole. But rising costs are putting college and university degrees out of reach for most young Americans. In the past 25 years, tuition and fees have gone up 439% while median income has risen by 147%, and student loans are saddling graduates with more and more debt. For the first time in American history, older adults have more education than younger ones, while other countries are educating their children faster. That's ominous news for a country that attained world leadership because of higher education.
Securing Public Spaces, Super Wealthy Asians Vehicles are increasingly being used as weapons, as seen in the London Bridge attack over the weekend and in New York’s Times Square last month. The Compton-based company Calpipe is designing security bollards to help make public spaces safer. And novelist Kevin Kwan satirizes the “crazy rich” Asian jet set and their luxurious tastes in his latest book, “Rich People Problems.”
Claudio Magris: Blameless In Claudio Magris' Blameless, a museum of the implements of war and destruction is created to inspire peace. But this conversation is not just about war and peace.
In 'Speechless,' Scott Silveri combines comedy, family & disability Scott Silveri has written and produced sitcoms for more than 20 years. In all that time, he never encountered a TV family that looked anything like the one he grew up in -- with a mom, a dad...and a brother with cerebral palsy. He changed that with his show Speechless on ABC. Silveri tells us about looking to his own past for stories, and why he was determined to make a family comedy and not just a "disability show."
Why is Trump so behind on filling staff jobs, establishing concrete policies? Yesterday Donald Trump signed a “decision memo” to revamp the air traffic control system. But there was little legislative detail in the plan. There’s not much to other splashy announcements from the White House, including tax cuts and the arms deal with Saudi Arabia. And hundreds of positions are unfilled in federal agencies.