EDLD 577: Higher Education Policy Fall 2008, MRH 145, Tuesdays 5:30 – 8:20 Professor: Fred Galloway, galloway@sandiego.edu Office Phone/Fax: 619-260-7435, #275H, 619-260-7435/619-849-8175 Office Hours: Mondays and Tuesdays 2:30 – 5:00 and by appointment This course examines contemporary higher education public policy issues and provides a general introduction to the policymaking process in the United States. This process will be examined from multiple perspectives, including those from within the university as well as those from without. At all levels, key participants will be identified and their behavior analyzed to understand the importance of structural incentives embedded in the process. To develop the skills necessary to do this sort of high-level policy analysis, students will learn how to research and write policy briefs and analyses based on real, contemporary problems in higher education. The course objectives include the following: • • • • •
Develop an understanding of public policymaking, especially the processes of the legislative and executive branches and the relative influence of state and national governments on postsecondary education. Examine the roles of key public officials, interest groups, political parties, the media, and public opinion. Become familiar with the policy issues shaping the future of American postsecondary education. Develop an understanding of the policymaking process within a university, including identifying key players and their strategies for decision-making. Develop the analytical skills necessary to do policy research, and the written skills needed to report the results in an easily understandable manner.
There is only one required text for the course, The Chosen: The Hidden History of Admission and Exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, by UC Berkeley sociologist Jerome Karabel. In addition to this text, however, there are a large number of required readings that will either be handed out by the instructor, or can be easily downloaded from the internet at no cost to the student. These articles, and the websites that they can be downloaded from, are listed on the weekly schedule of readings and other course happenings. To assess student performance in the course, there will be several methods of evaluation. To pass this course, students will be expected to attend class regularly, complete all the required readings, pass the midterm, research and write two policy briefs, orally present the last policy brief to the class, and actively participate in class. Although absences are to be expected, the nature of this particular course puts a real premium on attendance, so students are strongly encouraged to attend whenever possible. In terms of class participation, students are reminded that the quality of the contribution is infinitely more important than the quantity of the contribution, so monopolizing airtime is strongly discouraged. The relative weights for these evaluative components are as follows:
• • • • •
Midterm Policy Analysis #1 Policy Analysis #2 - Written Policy Analysis #2 – Oral Presentation Attendance, Readings, and Class Participation
25% 25% 25% 10% 15%
Although more information will be provided on the exact nature of the policy briefs and analyses later in the course, the following weekly schedule provides a list of required readings and other happenings in the course. Needless-to-say, students are expected to have done the required readings before the class meets. September 9
Course Structure and Overview
September 16
What Exactly is Policy Analysis in Higher Education?
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“Why Universities Endure: On the Authority of Ideas”, by Larry Summers, Harvard Magazine, 2004. (handout)
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“Whither Harvard? Four Presidents and Three Professors Offer Perspectives for a Presidential Search”, Harvard Magazine, 2001. (handout)
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“Ways and Means: Harvard’s Wage Debate”, Harvard Magazine, 2001. (handout)
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The Chosen, Introduction and Chapters 1 – 4.
September 23
Higher Education Policy Landscape: Players and their Perspectives
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American Council on Education (ACE) website: http://www.acenet.edu
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National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) website: http://www.naicu.edu
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American Association of State Colleges and Universities website: http://www.aascu.org
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American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) website: http://www.aacc.nche.edu
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National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) website: http://www.nafeo.org
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Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) website: http://www.hacu.net
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The Chosen, Chapters 5 – 8.
September 30
Overview of Access and Affordability Issues in Higher Education
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“Unequal America”, Harvard Magazine, July – August 2008. (handout)
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Access Denied: Restoring the Nation’s Commitment to Equal Educational Opportunity, A Report of the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, 2001. (http://www.ed.gov/offices/AC/ACSFA/access_denied.pdf)
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Access and Persistence: Findings from 10 Years of Longitudinal Research on Students, by Susan Choy, American Council on Education Center for Policy Analysis. (summarized at http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-2/access.html)
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Engines of Inequality: Diminishing Equity in the Nation’s Premier Public Universities, by Danette Gerald and Kati Haycock, The Education Trust, 2006. (http://www.luminafoundation.org/research/ccess)
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Measuring Up 2006: The State-by-State Report Card for Higher Education, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, 2006. (http://www.highereducation.org/reports/mup_06)
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Education Pays 2007, by Sandy Bum and Kathleen Payea, College Board, 2007. (http:www/collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2007/ ed-pay-2007.pdf)
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The Chosen, Chapters 9 – 12.
October 7
Trends in Public College and University Affordability
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The Condition of Education 2008, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. (http://nces.ed.gov/prgrams/coe)
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Trends in College Pricing 2007, College Board, 2007. (http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/trends/trends_pr icing_07.pdf)
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“Making College More Expensive: The Unintended Consequences of Federal Tuition Aid”, by Gary Wolfram, CATO Institute, 2005. (http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa531.pdf)
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“Squeeze Play: How Parents and the Public Look at Higher Education Today”, by John Immerwahr and Jean Johnson of Public Agenda for the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
(http://www.makingopportunityaffordable.org/pdfs/solution_papers/squeeze_play .pdf) •
“Will Congress Raise the Cost of College?”, by Terry Hartle and Fred Galloway in Trusteeship Magazine, 1995. (handout)
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The Chosen, Chapters 13 – 15.
October 14
Admissions Process from the Inside and Outside
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Federal Student Financial Aid: A National Profile of Programs in Title IV of the Higher Education Act, National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, 2005. (http://www.nasfaa.org/PDFS/2005/2005fsfprofile.pdf)
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Funding Education beyond High School: The Guide to Federal Student Aid, 2008-09, US Department of Education, 2008. (http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/siteresources/FundingEduBeyondH ighSchool_0809.pdf)
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Missing the Boat: Why Some Make It To College And Others Don’t”, by Jennie Woo, Jason Barnhart, and Kathy Beasley, California Student Aid Commission, April 2005. (handout)
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“Demystifying Admissions”, by Jennifer Reese, UCSD Magazine, May, 2004. (handout)
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The Chosen, Chapters 16 – 18.
October 21
MIDTERM on The Chosen
October 28
Affirmative Action in Higher Education Hand out Policy Analysis #1
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Update on Affirmative Action in Higher Education: A Current Legal Overview, American Association of University Professors, January 2005. (http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/protect/legal/topics/aff-ac-update.htm)
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Affirmative Action in Higher Education after Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, American Council on Education, September 2003. (www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Legal_Issues_and_Policy_Briefs)
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Charting the Future of College Affirmative Action: Legal Victories, Continuing Attacks, and New Research, edited by Gary Orfield, Patricia Marin, Stella Flores, and Liliana Garces, The Civil Rights Project, University of California, Los Angeles, 2007.
(http://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/affirmativeaction/charting_aa/co ntributors_FINAL.pdf) •
“A Systemic Analysis of Affirmative Action in American Law Schools” by Richard Sander, Stanford Law Review, Vol. 57, Number 2, November 2004. (handout)
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“The Real Impact of Eliminating Affirmative Action in American Law Schools: An Empirical Critique of Richard Sander’s Study” by David Chambers, Timothy Clydesdale, William Kidder, and Richard Lempert, Stanford Law Review, Vol. 57, Number 6, May 2005. (handout)
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“Affirmative Action in Law School Admissions: What do Racial Preferences Do?” by Jesse Rothstein and Albert Yoon, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 14276, August 2008. (http://papers.nber.org/papers/w14276)
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Opening the Doors to the American Dream: Increasing Higher Education Access and Success for Immigrants, Institute for Higher Education Policy, April 2007. (http://ihep.org/assets/files/publications/m-r/OpeningTheDoor.pdf)
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“Faculty Diversity: Too little for too long”, by Cathy Trower and Richard Chait, Harvard Magazine, 2002. (handout)
November 4
Federal and State Role in Financing Higher Education: Grants
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“Reframing Access and Opportunity in Higher Education: Problematic State and Federal Higher Education Policy in the 1990s”, by Patrick Callan in The States and Public Higher Education Policy: Affordability, Access, and Accountability, edited by Heller, 2001. (handout)
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“State Financing of Higher Education: A New Look at an Old Problem” by Frederick Fischer in Change, 1990. (handout)
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“What State Policymakers Should Know about Federal Higher Education Policy”, Policy Insights, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, September 2006.
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“State Grant Aid and its Effects on Students’ College Choices”, by Patricia McDonough, Shannon Calderone, and William Purdy, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, June 2007. (http://www.wiche.edu/Policy/Changing_direction/State_Grant_Aid_Choice.pdf)
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“Rethinking the Allocation of Pell Grants”, by Dave Breneman and Fred Galloway in Financing Postsecondary Education Proceedings of the National Conference on the Best Ways for the Federal Government to Help Students and
Families Finance Postsecondary Education.” (www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/PPI/FinPostSecEd/breneman.html) •
What is known about the Impact of Financial Aid? Implications for Policy, National Center for Postsecondary Research Working Paper, April 2008. (http://www.postsecondaryresearch.org/i/a/document/6963_LongFinAid.pdf)
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Trends in Student Aid 2007, College Board, 2007. (http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/about/news_info/trends/trends_ai d_07.pdf)
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ACE Fact Sheet on Higher Education: Pell Grants, American Council on Education, 2004. (handout)
November 11
Overview of Borrowing and the Student Loan Programs Policy Analysis #1 due at the beginning of class
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The Guerrilla Guide to Mastering Student Loan Debt, by Anne Stockwell, 1997, Chapters 8-10. (handout)
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Student Borrowing in the 1990s, American Council on Education, 2001. (http://www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Search&Section=issue_brief &template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentFileID=1100)
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Federal Student Loan Debt: 1993 to 2004, American Council on Education, June 2005. (www.acenet.edu/AM/PrinterTemplate.cfm?Section=search&template=/CM/HT MLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=21282)
November 18
Student Loan Wars: Direct Loans vs. FFEL Policy Analysis #2 handed out
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“Student Loan Follies”, Robert Shireman, 1995. (handout)
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“Direct Lending’s Last Stand?”, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 15, 2001. (handout)
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The Guerrilla Guide to Mastering Student Loan Debt, by Anne Stockwell, 1997, Chapters 3-7. (handout)
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Congressional Testimony of Fred Galloway before the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources, U.S. House of Representatives, 1999. (handout)
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Reframing the Student Loan Costing Debate, by Fred Galloway and Hoke Wilson, Educational Policy Institute, June 2005. (http://www.educationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/loandebate.pdf)
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Guaranteed Student Loans Cost Taxpayers Less, America’s Student Loan Providers White Paper, May 2006. (http://www.nchelp.org/elibrary/Reports&Testimonials/IndustryReports/ASLP%2 0White%20Paper%2007%2012%2005%FINAL.pdf)
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CRS Report for Congress: Economics of Guaranteed Student Loans, Congressional Research Service, August 2008. (handout since currently unavailable on the CRS website)
November 25
NO FORMAL CLASS SCHEDULED Library research for Policy Analysis #2
December 2
Policy Change and the Project on Student Debt
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The Future of Private Loans: Who is Borrowing and Why?, Institute for Higher Education Policy, December 2006. (www.ihep.org/assets/files/publications/af/FuturePrivateLoans.pdf)
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Addressing Student Loan Repayment Burdens: Strengths and Weaknesses of the Current System, The Project on Student Debt White Paper, February 2006. (http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/WHITE_PAPER_FINAL_PDF.p df)
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“A Borrowers Guide to July 1, 2008”, The Project on Student Debt, June, 2007. (http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/component/borrowers_guide_july _1.pdf)
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DENIED: Community College Students Lack Access to Affordable Loans, The Project on Student Debt, April 2008. (http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/denied.pdf)
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Student Debt and the Class of 2006, The Project on Student Debt, September 2007. (http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/state_by_state_report_FINAL.pdf )
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“Policy Agenda to Address Rising Student Debt”, The Project on Student Debt, June 2007. (http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/Private_Loan_agenda.pdf)
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“Quick Facts about Student Debt”, The Project on Student Debt, September 2007. (http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/files/Debt_Facts_and_Sources.pdf)
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“Improving Consumer Protection for Private Student Loans”, The Project on Student Debt, June 2007. (http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub_view.php?idx=243)
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“Letter to House Committee on Education and Labor”, The Project on Student Debt, April 2007. (http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/files/pub/HEA_Recs.pdf)
December 9
Reauthorization and the Higher Education Act Policy Analysis #2 due in class
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“Federal Student Aid Policy: A History and an Assessment”, by Lawrence Gladieux, 1995. (www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/PPI/FinPostSec/Ed/gladiuex.html)
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Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act: Issues and Options, The Institute for Higher Education Policy, 2003. (www.ihep.org/assets/files/publications/mr/ReauthorizingHEA.pdf)
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National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities Higher Education Act Position Summary, National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, January 2003. (http://www.naicu.edu/about/summary-of-initialnaicu-hea-reauthorization-proposals)
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Letter to Congressional Committees on Recommendations for Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, American Council on Education, April 13, 2007. (www.acenet.edu/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Search&section=GovernmentRelat ions&template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfmContentFileID=3113)
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“ACE Analysis of Higher Education Act Reauthorization”, American Council on Education, August 2008. (http://www.acenet.edu/enewsletters/p2p/ACE_HEA_analysis_818.pdf)
FINALS
Oral Presentation for Policy Analysis #2