How Did We Get in How Did We Get in this Mess?this Mess?

How Did We Get in How Did We Get in this Mess?this Mess?

And Can we Get Out of it?And Can we Get Out of it?Sarah FlanaganSarah Flanagan

2008 AAPICU Annual Conference2008 AAPICU Annual Conference

The Mess• College Cost & Pricing• Accreditation• Student Learning

Outcomes• Textbooks• Emergency Response• Credit Crisis• Meningitis

• Distance Ed• Post-Graduate Outcomes • Teacher Education• Drug & Alcohol• St. Loan Sunshine• Fire Safety• Missing Persons• Peer to Peer• Endowments

A Quick Perspective• GI Bill and the War on Poverty• Student Centered Aid

– Portability- Access and Choice

• Accreditation as a Barrier to Federal Control

1992– A Watershed• Proprietary Scandals

• Middle State Political Correctness

• Last of the Old Lions

“Moving to the Front Burner”

1993-2000• Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich:

More in Common Than you Think• The Student Aid Alliance• Dec 1995 Government Shut-down• Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997• 2000 Elections

Direct Lending1993

• Connected to National Service Debate (and student loan scandals)

• Done through the Budget Act• Sets Off Direct Lending v. FFELP

Wars• Partisanship Enters HEA politics

Clinton and Gingrich• Populist message by Brilliant Strategists• So Goes Campaigns, So Goes Policy

– Symbolic Politics as Policy– The Role of Polling– 30- Second Sound Bites– Policy by Anecdote

• Generational Turnover in Congress

Student Aid Alliance• Response to Contract with America, but

directed at both Gingrich and Clinton• Campaign tactics applied to Issue Politics

– Polling – Focus groups– Earned Media– Grassroots and Grasstops– Unified Message from DC

December 1995 Government Shut-down

• Contract with America dead

• Education central issue

• Education “saves” Clinton for second time

Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997

• Combines Education and Tax Relief— a traditionally democratic issue with a republican method

• Benefits Middle Class• Adds “Affordability” to “Access”• Pell Increase Rides the Wave but

Does not Drive it

2000 Elections

• Beginning of Fight for the Independent Voters

• Education #1 Issue for Independents

• Similar Education Policy

1998 HEA Reauthorization—End of

an Era• Last Education bill done “on time”

• Last of the Bi-partisan Leadership from the “Good Old Days” with policy first

• Benefited from the lack of interest in HEA (a last gasp on the “back burner”)

What is the New Era?Education as a Front

Burner Issue• NCLB• Rise in Independent Voters• Close Elections• Prop Schools Rise from the Ashes• New Interest Groups• Budget Deficits• Age of Accountability• International Competitiveness• Exploding College Prices

No Child Left Behind-- 2001

• Federal “Fix-It”, not Partners• Equalization and Equity of Resources

replaced with Student Assessment• The Birth of the Data God

—”Scientific Evidence”• Bi-partisan with Groups in tow• New players

Rise in Independent Voters

• In the 27 states that register states by party, the percentage of self-declared independents grew from 8 percent in 1987 to 24 percent in 2004

• About 40 percent of Americans call themselves independent

• 30 percent are considered “persuadable”

• Independents broke 2-1 for the Dems in the 2006 election

Close Elections• Increases partisanship, because so much is at

stake.• Need to boldly stake out differences, while

competing for the same voters, using the same tools.

• Even in recent elections that have been decisive for one party, the total vote differences needed to tip the balance of power has been remarkably narrow.

• Increased Need to Raise Campaign Funds

Old Interest Groups

New Interest Groups• Education Trust• New America Foundation• Center for American Progress• Data Quality Campaign• The Institute for College Access and Success,

Inc.• Achieve• Education Sector• Campaign for America’s Future

Budget Deficits• More bi-partisan concern as Dems

have increased their credibility• The deficit is getting worse• The federal debt is larger• The pie is baked

Age Of Accountability• Business knows best (remember TQM?)

• Learning can be measured and numbers can tell us everything

• Data leads, policy follows

• Einstein, “Because something can be counted, doesn’t mean it counts”

International Competitiveness

• They believe us• The future success for individuals

and the nation are dependent on access to higher ed

• We are a public good, with lots of governmental support

Explosion of College Prices

• Growth in Tuition far outpaces growth in median family income

• FY 2008 Pell Grant program will cost $18 billion for a $4,731 maximum grant-- more than 2 of the 12 congressional subcommittees entire allocations (five years Pell program costs were $10 b)

• Last year’s average increase in tuition and fees at private colleges was $1,404

Household Income vs. Tuition, Fee, Room, and Board Charges

(2006 Constant Dollars)

$14,127

$30,367

$12,796$6,877

$48,201

$39,961

$0

$20,000

$40,000

$60,000

$80,000

$100,000 MedianHouseholdIncome

PrivateFour-Year

PublicFour-Year

Colleges Losing the “White Hat”

• Cost• Scandals

– AAU– Student Loans– Study Abroad

• Rise of Prop Schools

Increasing Resentment of Colleges

• Most Americans (and elected officials) understand the economic need for postsecondary education

• Lots of federal support makes no dent• Congress (like the American people)

feels it can’t keep up• Is it worth it?

Leads to New Question:What are we getting for

our Money??• Asked by parents and by elected

officials• Spellings answers with language

she knows: NCLB; accountability, data, student learning outcomes

• Questions regarding “appropriate federal role” do not resonate

HEA Reauthorization –Final Stages

1998 Last Reauthorization2003-04 Scheduled ReauthorizationFeb 2006: Bill Split in two, key student aid

portions become lawMarch 2006: Rest of HEA passes House and DiesJuly 2007: Senate approves 2-part HEASeptember 2007: Student aid portions become

lawFebruary 2008: House approves Rest of HEAMarch 31, 2008: Targeted Conference Completion

Effects on Campus• What will affect your campus?

• When will these impacts be felt?

• What are our most significant victories and losses?

Dominant Issues for Congress

• Turning Student Loan Cuts into Pell Grant Dollars

• College Pricing (including textbooks)• Student Loan Sunshine• Issues de jour (V-TECH, illegal file sharing,

fire safety, missing students)• Teacher Education Accountability• Student Debt

Dominant Issues for NAICU

• College Pricing• Accreditation• Student Learning Outcomes• Student Loan Sunshine• Protecting Campus-based aid

& LEAP• Preserving Pell (against

front-loading, other ideas)• Student loan cuts—

opportunities and risks• Increased Loan Limits• Student repayment

options

• Transfer of Credit• Teacher Education

Mandates• Articulation Agreements• Last Dollar• Reporting Requirements

(file sharing, textbooks, emergency response, U-CAN, missing persons, fire safety, distance ed, drug & alcohol etc.)

• Integrity

Cost: Senate• “Watch Lists” of state and national price

increases ranking institutions above “HEPI”• State and national lists ranking schools by

change in tuition and fees over previous 2 years

• Development of net price calculators by institutions within 3 years

• Inclusion of net price information by income quartile in admissions materials

House Cost Provisions• Top 5 % of institutions by sector (and nationally)

with largest percentage increase in tuition over 3 years must submit report to Secretary and establish quality efficiency task forces with annual benchmarks

• Lists of top and bottom 5 % of schools by price and sector

• Sec of Ed develops net price calculator that all schools must adopt and place on web site

• PEPI

House: Higher Ed Pricing Summary Page

• Undergrad Tuition and Fees• For three preceding years

– Net price by income quintile ($35K increments

– Average % and $ change in tuition and fees

– Average % change in per-student instructional spending

And then Even More• All U-Can Information• Graduation rate information by

income quintile through IPEDS• Additional reports to Sec. by any

college whose net tuition rises above a new PEPI including reports on efforts to restrict future increases

Transfer of CreditBEGAN• Prop Schools: Automatic Transfer among

all Title IV schools• CHEA Principle: No Discrimination based on

Regional or National AccreditationLIKELY END• Publish Transfer of Credit Policy• Publish Articulation Agreements

Student Learning Outcomes

• Accreditation as a Regulatory Tool• Emphasis on Fixed Measures and

Comparability• Inevitable Drift Toward Formal

Assessment Instruments• Closely Related to Price Concerns–

What are we paying for?

Likely End Game: Accreditation and Student

Learning Outcomes• NACIQI reconfigured• Limitations on Secretarial Authority• Clear protections for Schools and

Accreditors to prevent one from contolling the other

Requires “respect” for religious missions

Student Loan Sunshine• Uniform disclosures and certification to

all students who borrow federal or private loans

• Applies to non-Title IV colleges• Struck: Restrictions on Bankers serving

on college boards and vice versa• Struck: Restrictions on

Charitable Contributions

Preservation of Programs

• Pell Grant “front-loading” defeated

• All Campus-based programs and LEAP reauthorized

• Campus-based aid formula preserved

Enhancements to Student Aid

Positive• Increases in student loan limits (undergraduate and

graduate)• New repayment options for students with high debt to

income; public service and non-profit loan forgiveness; lower interest rates and elimination of O fees

• $11 billion for Pell Grants (yielding an increase of $490 per student for AY 2008-09 over the appropriated max)

Negative Lenders are cutting borrower benefits• Uncertainty of PLUS loans• Effect of Cuts on Capital Markets unclear

Last Dollar (mainly a House problem)

• GEAR UP & 3 new grant programs• Designed to ensure no college “cuts” as

student’s institutional aid package because of additional federal grant dollars

• Brings in federal oversight and rules for institutional grant aid

Final: Language most likely struck

Teacher EducationGains• Removed initial Value-Added assessment models of teacher

ed programs• Eliminated Rankings of Institutions in State Report Card• Prohibits a national system of teacher certification

Losses

• Every college with a teacher ed program must set annual quantifiable goals in accordance with goals set by the Secretary of Education (senate) or State (house) in such areas as:

subject shortage areas (i.e. math, science, l.e.p) – special populations (special ed, rural and urban, etc.)

Articulation Agreements (House)

• Secretary to carry out program with the states to “develop, enhance and implement comprehensive articulation agreements among institutions in a State”

• Encourages such things as “common course numbering, general education core curriculum”

End: Private Colleges Removed from Mandate

Integrity• 50 Percent Rule• Incentive Compensation• 90/10• Default Rate Window

End Game: Props Likely Gain Ground

Reporting Requirements

• File Sharing• Textbooks• Emergency Response• U-CAN/ Navigator• Missing Persons• Fire Safety• Cost • Endowments

• Distance Ed• Post-Graduate

Outcomes (Senate• Grad Rates by

Student Aid Recipient• Drug & Alcohol• Student Loan

Sunshine• Meningitis

Textbooks• Publishers must provide pricing information to

those who select books on campus• Requires “unbundling”• Requires ISBN, retail price to be published with

class schedules (to maximum extent practicable)• Upon request, colleges must make info avail

available to outside bookstores• Language protecting academic freedom

and institutional autonomy

P2P File Sharing• Requires disclosures to students on school

policies for illegal downloading that are identical in both House and Senate, with bi-partisan support and Hollywood push

• Colleges must develop a plan for alternatives to illegal downloading and to explore technology-based deterrents (House) Authorizes grant program

to develop pilot programs

Campus Emergencies• Require campus policies on

emergency response including 30-minute notification rule

• Procedures must be publicized and tested annually

Overall Assessment

• We Have Won Many Clear Victories– Most blatant Price Controls Defeated– Student Aid Programs Maintained and

Expanded – Accreditation & Student Learning Outcomes– Transfer of Credit– Ability to Package our Own Aid– Charitable Contributions from Banks

Greatest Negative Effects on Campus

• Massive New Reporting Requirements

• New Federal Pressure on Tuition Increases

And on the Eastern Front—

Finance Committee• Also interested in College Cost• Endowment pay-outs• Increased Scrutiny of non-Profits• New 990s• Expired provisions:

– IRA Rollover– Tuition deduction

New Lobbying Rules• Applies if you have any staff member on

campus who spends more than 20 percent of his/her time advocating on federal issues or preparing for such actions

• If you hire an outside lobbyist, you must make sure they are reporting you on their own lobbying disclosure form and you must follow special gift ban and travel rules

Where Do We Go From Here?

• This week, this month, this year:– Engage with members of Congress– Tell your school’s story– Effect on your institution

• Building for Next Phase: Repair the Partnership– Document your compliance costs– NAICU efforts: U-Can and Together We-Can

Sources• A. Clayton Spencer, “The New Politics of Higher

Education”, Financing a College Education. Phoenix. AZ: Oryx Press, 1999, pp. 101-119.

• Constance Cook, Lobbying for Higher Education: How Colleges and Universities Influence Federal Policy, Vanderbilt University Press, 1998.

• www.independentvoting.org• www.independentvoice.org• Stan Collender: Various FY 2008 Budget Briefings• College Board, “Trends in College Pricing 2006”.