Policy Dialogue: The Problems and Promises of Higher Education in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-350
Author(s):  
Sara Goldrick-Rab ◽  
David Labaree
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Student Loan ◽  
Professor Emeritus ◽  
Policy Dialogue ◽  
College And University ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Institutional Types

AbstractNearly 70 percent of American students enroll in postsecondary education immediately after graduating high school. Yet college and university completion rates remain highly disparate across social and economic groups. White students in the US are 20 percent more likely than Black and Latino students to graduate, and students from high-income backgrounds are roughly five times more likely to graduate than their lower-income peers. As a result, many students leave higher education without a degree, bearing debt that cannot be discharged through bankruptcy. The upshot is that much of the $1.7 trillion in student loan obligations today is held by those who cannot afford to repay it—an immediate crisis for millions of individuals and a looming threat to the US economy. How did we arrive at this juncture? And what should we do from here?For this Policy Dialogue, the HEQ editors asked Sara Goldrick-Rab and David Labaree to explore the past, present, and future of pressing issues facing American higher education. Goldrick-Rab is professor of sociology and medicine at Temple University as well as President and Founder of the Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice in Philadelphia. She is also the chief strategy officer for emergency aid at Edquity, a student financial success and emergency aid company, and founder of Believe in Students, a nonprofit distributing emergency aid. Labaree is a past president of the History of Education Society and the Lee L. Jacks Professor Emeritus at Stanford University. Their dialogue takes readers on a quick and heady jaunt across time, across the country, and across almost all institutional types in higher education.HEQ Policy Dialogues are, by design, intended to promote an informal, free exchange of ideas between scholars. At the end of the exchange, we offer a list of references for readers who wish to follow up on sources relevant to the discussion.

scholarly journals The Globalization of Postsecondary Education: The Role of International Students in the US Higher Education System

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-184
Author(s):  
John Bound ◽  
Breno Braga ◽  
Gaurav Khanna ◽  
Sarah Turner
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Colleges And Universities ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
The Us ◽  
Student Demand ◽  
Type Of Institution

In the four decades since 1980, US colleges and universities have seen the number of students from abroad quadruple. This rise in enrollment and degree attainment affects the global supply of highly educated workers, the flow of talent to the US labor market, and the financing of US higher education. Yet, the impacts are far from uniform, with significant differences evident by level of study and type of institution. The determinants of foreign flows to US colleges and universities reflect both changes in student demand from abroad and the variation in market circumstances of colleges and universities, with visa policies serving a mediating role. The consequences of these market mechanisms impact global talent development, the resources of colleges and universities, and labor markets in the United States and countries sending students.

Military Subsidization of Human Capital and Gender Stratification in the US Economy

2021 ◽  
pp. 048661342098262
Author(s):  
Tyler Saxon
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
The United States ◽  
Jel Classification ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
Gender Stratification ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Capital Development ◽  
The Military

In the United States, the military is the primary channel through which many are able to obtain supports traditionally provided by the welfare state, such as access to higher education, job training, employment, health care, and so on. However, due to the nature of the military as a highly gendered institution, these social welfare functions are not as accessible for women as they are for men. This amounts to a highly gender-biased state spending pattern that subsidizes substantially more human capital development for men than for women, effectively reinforcing women’s subordinate status in the US economy. JEL classification: B54, B52, Z13

Rethinking U.S. National Security after Covid19

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda J. Bilmes
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United States ◽  
National Security ◽  
The United States ◽  
Emerging Diseases ◽  
Defense Spending ◽  
Federal Spending ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Military

AbstractThe United States has traditionally defined national security in the context of military threats and addressed them through military spending. This article considers whether the United States will rethink this mindset following the disruption of the Covid19 pandemic, during which a non-military actor has inflicted widespread harm. The author argues that the US will not redefine national security explicitly due to the importance of the military in the US economy and the bipartisan trend toward growing the military budget since 2001. However, the pandemic has opened the floodgates with respect to federal spending. This shift will enable the next administration to allocate greater resources to non-military threats such as climate change and emerging diseases, even as it continues to increase defense spending to address traditionally defined military threats such as hypersonics and cyberterrorism.

scholarly journals Does Eco-labeling of Services Matter? Evidence from Higher Education

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel C. Hickman ◽  
Andrew G. Meyer
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
University Presidents ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Considerable Heterogeneity ◽  
College And University ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Impact

Abstract: Eco-labeling of services has become increasingly common, yet little empirical evidence exists concerning its effectiveness. We address this gap in the literature by analyzing a highly visible eco-label, the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), in the sector of higher education. We match information about the ACUPCC to the US Department of Education IPEDS database to examine the impact of signing on student applications, admissions, and enrollment. We mainly utilize a difference-in-difference approach to identify the effects of interest but confirm results with an interrupted time series model. We find that signing the ACUPCC increases applications and admitted students by 2.5–3.5 %. However, the evidence regarding enrollment is weaker with only some specifications finding increases of around 1–2 %. Overall, there is considerable heterogeneity across sectors and selectivity of the institutions. These results show that, at the minimum, voluntary and information-based approaches (VIBAs) for services can be effective in generating visibility and influencing less-costly consumer behavior.

Can India’s Higher Education Improve Through Better Management of Human Resources: A Comparative Study of India and the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 006996672110638
Author(s):  
Jai Mohan Pandit ◽  
Bino Paul
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Hrm Practices ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Global Standards ◽  
The Us ◽  
Education In India ◽  
Recruitment And Selection

This study investigates human resource management (HRM) practices in higher education institutions (HEIs) based on a comparative analysis of India and the US. Although higher education in India has grown over the decades, its quality, in general, has not kept up with global standards. On the other hand, many US universities have performed consistently well in international university rankings. Based on qualitative research collected from principal stakeholders of HEIs in India and the US, HRM practices and policies followed by them are presented and discussed. Data collection for the research study was through web interviews during the period August–October 2020. The study reveals that Indian public HEIs do not have professional HRM teams. Also, they are in a formative stage in autonomous and private institutions. On the other hand, many HEIs in the US have developed mature HRM systems. This difference resonates in attributes such as structure of HRM, recruitment and selection processes, training and development programmes, performance management, career progression and talent retention.

What's new in the "new" US course towards the DPRK?

2021 ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Alexander Zhebin
Keyword(s):  
North Korea ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Republic Of Korea ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Nuclear Problem ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Taiwan Straits

The article analyzes the prospects for US-North Korean and inter-Korean relations, taking into account the completed policy review of the new US administration towards the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), as well as the results of the President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in’s trip to Washington in May 2021 and his talks with US President Joe Biden. It is concluded that the “new" course proposed by the United States in relation to the DPRK will not lead to a solution to the nuclear problem of the Korean Peninsula and will interfere with the normalization of inter-Korean relations. During his visit to the US President Moon failed to obtain the US consent on ROK more “independent policy” toward North Korea. In spite of lavish investments into US economy and other concessions, Seoul was forced to promise to coordinate his approaches to the DPRK with US and Japan and support US position on Taiwan straits and South China Sea. The author argues that in the current conditions, the introduction of a regime of arms limitation and arms control in Korea should be a necessary stage on the way to complete denuclearization of the peninsula. The transition to a such method of the settlement of the nuclear problem could lead to the resumption of the negotiation process, mutual concessions, including reductions in the level of military-political confrontation, partial or large-scale lifting of economic sanctions in exchange for North Korea's restrictions of its nuclear weapon and missile systems.

scholarly journals Bad Biocitizens?: Latinos and the US "Obesity Epidemic"

2014 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Greenhalgh ◽  
Megan Carney
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
The United States ◽  
Normal Weight ◽  
The Political ◽  
Structural Barriers ◽  
Obesity Epidemic ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Let's Move

For years now, the United States has faced an "obesity epidemic" that, according to the dominant narrative, is harming the nation by worsening the health burden, raising health costs, and undermining productivity. Much of the responsibility is laid at the foot of Blacks and Latinos, who have higher levels of obesity. Latinos have provoked particular concern because of their rising numbers. Michelle Obama's Let's Move! Campaign is now targeting Latinos. Like the national anti-obesity campaign, it locates the problem in ignorance and calls on the Latino community to "own" the issue and take personal responsibility by embracing healthier beliefs and behaviors. In this article, we argue that this dominant approach to obesity is misguided and damaging because it ignores the political-economic sources of Latino obesity and the political-moral dynamics of biocitizenship in which the issue is playing out. Drawing on two sets of ethnographic data on Latino immigrants and United States-born Latinos in southern California, we show that Latinos already "own" the obesity issue; far from being "ignorant," they are fully aware of the importance of a healthy diet, exercise, and normal weight. What prevents them from becoming properly thin, fit biocitizens are structural barriers associated with migration and assimilation into the low-wage sector of the US economy. Failure to attain the normative body has led them to internalize the identity of bad citizens, assume personal responsibility for their failure, naturalize the conditions for this failure, and feel that they deserve this fate. We argue that the blaming of minorities for the obesity epidemic constitutes a form of symbolic violence that furthers what Berlant calls the "slow death" of structurally vulnerable populations, even as it deepens their health risks by failing to address the fundamental sources of their higher weights.

scholarly journals FINANCIAL SECTOR INTERCONNECTEDNESS AND MONETARY POLICY TRANSMISSION

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 1074-1101
Author(s):  
Alessandro Barattieri ◽  
Maya Eden ◽  
Dalibor Stevanovic
Keyword(s):  
Monetary Policy ◽  
Vector Autoregression ◽  
The United States ◽  
Structural Vector Autoregression ◽  
Net Worth ◽  
Financial Variables ◽  
Us Economy ◽  
The Us ◽  
Policy Shocks ◽  
Using Data

We present a stylized model that illustrates how interbank trading can reduce the sensitivity of lending to entrepreneurs' net worth, thus affecting the transmission mechanism of monetary policy through the credit channel. We build a model-consistent measure of interconnectedness and document that, in the United States, this measure has increased substantially during the period 1952–2016. Finally, interacting the measure of interconnectedness in a structural vector autoregression and a factor-augmented vector autoregression for the US economy, we find that the impulse responses of several real and financial variables to monetary policy shocks are dampened as interconnectedness increases. We confirm the same result using data from 10 Euro area countries for the period 1999–2016.

Community Colleges in America and Distance Learning

2011 ◽  
pp. 302-303
Author(s):  
Gary A. Berg
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Higher Education ◽  
Common Mistake ◽  
External Pressures ◽  
Institutional Types ◽  
Four Year Institutions

Community colleges in the United States have played an important role in the development and implementation of various forms of computer- and media-based education. A common mistake made when discussing distance learning in American higher education is to fail to distinguish the policies and practices of different institutional types. Generalizations about distance learning are particularly misleading if one does not recognize the very large differences in mission, resources, stakeholders, and external pressures between community colleges and four-year institutions.

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