I admit it. I have a chip on my shoulder when it comes to for-profit providers of higher education. Until now, I wasn’t entirely sure why. After all, I generally like competition and think that more options for students is a good thing.

But I grew nauseous reading this Reuters article, which examines the possibility that President Obama's American Graduation Initiative might hurt the for-profit higher education sector. Folks who are genuinely concerned with this must be relieved that the article concludes that no major threat is present. Specifically, while “analysts said the program for community colleges could make them more competitive against firms such as Apollo Group Inc, Corinthian Colleges, ITT Educational Services Inc and Lincoln Educational Services Corp….the amount of money earmarked for the program would result in only a marginal increment in budgets for community colleges a...

It’s a very big day for the nation’s community colleges. In today’s Washington Post, our president praises them, and calls for additional funding to support their work. In particular, he writes, “We can reallocate funding to help them modernize their facilities, increase the quality of online courses and ultimately meet the goal of graduating 5 million more Americans from community colleges by 2020.”

On Friday I spent the morning speaking with staff from the U.S. House of Representatives Community College Caucus, and was impressed by the significant turnout and detailed questions they asked. Then, Time magazine moved on a substantial piece noting the importance of the two-year sector as well.

This...

While working on a grant application recently, I had the opportunity to spend some time thinking about settings, the places where students (hopefully) learn. Settings are typically thought of as the environments in which individuals experience life, where developmental processes take place. This led me to wonder, in today’s world what constitutes a “setting” in postsecondary education?

While in the past, college attendance was for a select group only — those who could afford to live at school and enroll in classes with little time devoted to work — this is no longer the case. The fastest growing enrollment is at nonresidential two-year colleges, where students mix class attendance with heavy work schedules and participate in student activities only to a limited extent. Research at the widely attended, less-selective 4-year state colleges reveals that such behaviors are increasingly...

(Photo by Flickr user DeusXFlorida)

It’s hard to get to know the rich. Gaining insight into how they think, act, behave is much harder to do, since in general they maintain the highest levels of privacy.

This is a well-known fact in social-science research, and it leads to a preponderance of studies examining poor folks rather than rich ones. Why do we (think we) know so much more about the “truly disadvantaged,” the “unmarried mothers with children,” the “children of the slum”? Quite simply, because they let the public (and researchers) in. Open to questions, sometimes flattered by or at least welcoming the attention, in need of the monetary incentives offered, and often lacking the presumption that inquiry will lead to destruction — for how could things get any worse?

In contrast, it’s rare to find a rich ethnography of the elite. Sure, there are a handful — but they are...

The Department of Education has finally announced some concrete plans to reduce the complexity of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). After years of debate that largely focused on whether to kill the beast entirely (ditching the form and using IRS data instead) or cutting off some of its limbs (cutting some of questions but keeping the form), ED is starting with a middle-of-the-road approach. In spring they’ll pilot a program to use IRS data to populate forms for students who elect to go that route, and in the meantime cut back on asking questions about assets.

While most consumers agree that simple is best, and easy, transparent programs are notably more effective in reaching the families who need aid the most, these steps are not popular with everyone. Complex forms require specific knowledge, and those who specialize in them are nearly assured of keeping their...

Thanks to his chief of staff, we all now know that something big IS coming for community colleges! The Chronicle reported on it this morning, and there’s even more detail over at The Swamp. Rahm Emanuel spoke yesterday of an increase in resources — “major resources” — and an intention to “grow the system.”

I’ll be holding my breath!

Sara & Conor

I am in the midst of what I sometimes feel is an incredibly risky endeavor. Or rather, what some would have me feel is risky.

I’m having a baby. A second baby. On the tenure track.

My ears sense some e-groaning. My fears detect some e-judgment. Maybe, somewhat out there, there is a little applause, and elsewhere sighs of relief.

The truth is, I don’t know what to say — except that I’m completely happy and scared, all at the same time.

Why happy? Because having a family is exactly what my husband and I always wanted. And having our first has proven to both of us that professional success is entirely eclipsed by the sheer joy of watching our son learn to eat a popsicle, or experience his first swim lesson.

Why fear? Because it is far from clear what baby No. 1 means for my tenure prospects, let alone baby No. 2. Because I have already been the recipient of...

One reason I was so excited to join Brainstorm was that it presented a chance to go toe-to-toe once in awhile with my colleague and friend, Kevin Carey. Over the years, I’ve read Kevin’s work frequently, and often found myself respectfully disagreeing with him. What’s the best is that our points of disagreement are always worth arguing over — as we are both so clearly interested in seeing major changes when it comes to equity and educational attainment.

This past week presented an illustration. I wrote a critique of an American Enterprise Institute report Kevin co-authored, and he responded with a post taking on some of my points. Since I have plenty to say in turn, and since I think this is a...

(Photo by Flickr user Sarah G)

I’ve been preoccupied by sleep lately. Not sleeping — though as I approach the end of my first trimester I sure could use some — but sleep itself. What it means to sleep a little or a lot, how it affects your daily interactions with others, etc. This is something I know a tiny bit about, having spent a solid year sleep-deprived after the birth of my first child, but not something I’ve devoted my academic time to.

Until now. I just spent two full days at the Cells to Society (C2S) Summer Biomarker Institute. C2S is also known as the Center on Social Disparities and Health at Northwestern University. It’s directed by developmental psychologist Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, and has additional star power in folks...

The latest report from the American Enterprise Institute, Diplomas and Dropouts, hits one nail on the head: Plenty of students starting college do not finish a degree. Access does not equate with success, and partly as a result, U.S. higher education is perpetuating a lot of inequality.

What do we do about this? The authors identify a key fact: “analysis of graduation rates reveals wide variance among institutions that have similar admissions standards and admit students with similar track records and test scores.” They interpret this to mean that “while student motivation, intent, and ability matter greatly when it comes to college completion, our analysis suggests that the practices of higher education institutions matter, too.”

This is a pretty common argument made by many policy institutes and advocacy organizations, including...