Washington D.C. policy experts, government officials, groups representing thousands of colleges nationwide, and dozens of other stakeholders have been debating how to evaluate and ensure the quality of educational programs and the government’s role in doing so for years. However, despite the high levels of time and money students invest in our po...

In spite of having one of the country’s most decentralized higher education systems, New Mexico is not halting its progress towards improving higher education. The New Mexico Higher Education Department (NMHED) oversees the state’s 31 public higher education institutions (institutions), registers and licenses all of the approximately 70 private...

This year, U.S. student debt hit $1.5 trillion. Through federal student loans and grants, taxpayers underwrite the nation’s investment in higher education to the tune of $150 billion annually. But just one in three college students are confident they will graduate with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in a workplace, and a…

Debates surrounding quality in higher education have been building steady momentum since the formation, deliberation, and recommendations delivered by the Spellings Commission a decade ago. In its wake, Republican and Democratic policymakers alike— in D.C. and in state capitals—have started to challenge the accreditor definition of quality, int...

With the increase of adult learners in today’s higher education landscape, currently 27% of the undergraduate population, it is essential that colleges and universities meet both the unique educational needs of adult learners and maintain curricular quality. Fortunately, these two goals are neither mutually exclusive, nor are they incongruent wit...

Accountability is easy in the abstract. That’s true at the national level, it’s true at the state-level and it’s true at every college and university. When we keep it vague, the accountability coalition is a big tent. Everyone in public life favors ambitious goals and sensible reforms. But when you get down to the hard…

How well do we Americans really know today’s students? The answer will surprise you. Last week, we released the results of a national opinion poll and a special edition of Education Insider looking at just how well the general public and policymakers understand the shifting demographics of higher education. Overall, while the public is gen...

Julie Peller is quoted in an Inside Higher Ed article looking at a potential oversight agenda for a Democratic-controlled House Education and Workforce Committee.

What a difference ten years makes. Over ten years ago, on August 14, 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act, the last comprehensive reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA). The world has changed a lot since then. In 2008, Facebook hadn’t rolled out its “Like” button, Netflix…

Whether it is in the news and television commercials or cropping up in proposed legislative and regulatory changes, “competency-based education” continues to dominate the conversation around innovation in higher education. And for good reason; there are hundreds of forward-thinking institutions that are offering CBE programs. Many of these prog...