National ‘Road Map’ Targets Higher Education’s 10 Most Critical Issues
WASHINGTON, D.C.
A new nonpartisan guide aimed at making it easier for legislators and interested constituents to understand higher education’s most pressing issues has come out just as Congress is preparing to vote on the Higher Education Reauthorization Act, scheduled for this fall.
“Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, Issues and Options,” evaluates 10 critical HEA policy issues, pinpointing options for change and weighing the resulting trade-offs. Six of the issues addressed by the guide involve barriers to access and persistence.
Between 2000 and 2015, the college-age population will increase by 2.6 million (16 percent), 80 percent of which will be minorities, and nearly half Latino. These populations, says the guide, historically suffer most from financial, academic, and cultural barriers to higher education, and “policy steps will need to be taken … if this country is to meet its future workforce needs.”
