Julie Peller, executive director of Higher Learning Advocates, a nonprofit organization working to on federal policy that impacts higher education,  sees “an opportunity” for conversations about what states need from the federal government as opposed to what the federal government wants states to do regarding issues of affordability. “Comple...

Accreditation is the linchpin of the federal role in higher education as the gate-keeping system for $120 billion annual investment in higher education . Looking to understand the complex and esoteric process that determines which colleges and universities get a “stamp of approval” to receive federal student aid? Our new accreditation ...

Today, everyone from higher education leaders and practitioners, to employers, and, most importantly, students themselves is asking a critical question: How can higher education be more directly related to jobs students want? An answer in Washington, D.C. is to broaden our thinking of “higher education” to include shorter-term and more work-c...

In general, an increased focus on non-traditional educational pathways to meaningful employment is welcome. Institutions of higher education and new providers of postsecondary education, such as learn-and-earn models, provide promising approaches to meeting the educational and skills needs of many of today’s students.

“None of this will be easy. Technological, economic and demographic changes are happening at breakneck speed, continuously raising the stakes for our postsecondary system. But this is a challenge we can’t shirk. The higher education sector is not only ready for these reforms, our students deserve them. Today’s students deserve a new and r...

In today’s higher education landscape, quality has become the most important watchword as institutions navigate new accountability policies and regulations while new providers hope to demonstrate their efficacy and impact with students. For today’s students, quality is much more than an abstract concept: it translates to their prospects for car...

Policy Update: HEA Recommendations We are just two full months into 2018, and critical conversations around postsecondary education are moving forward at the federal level. Higher Learning Advocates has continued its efforts to advance common-sense policy reforms designed to improve outcomes, upgrade quality, and build a system of higher learning t...

Higher Learning Advocates submitted comments, today, to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee leadership with recommendations on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

We need to ensure students in economically distressed communities use their federal aid at institutions with the strongest outcomes—not roll back accountability for precisely those schools most likely to fail their students and produce poor outcomes.

Today, Congress approved a budget deal, ending a brief government shutdown and agreeing to a framework that would set budget parameters for the next two years. The compromise eventually approved by U.S. Senate leaders included several key provisions that could have a major impact on student success and higher education accountability. Here’...

Today, the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) will begin meeting to review the status of accrediting agencies, which play the role of gatekeepers to federal financial aid. We entrust the nation’s system of higher education quality assurance—including accreditors—with ensuring that students use more tha...

In a new special report on adult learners, The Chronicle of Higher Education featured executive director Julie Peller and board member Teresa Lubbers of the Indiana Commission on Higher Education in a forum on how institutions and policymakers can better help adult students complete postsecondary credentials. Download the entire special report...