Education Policy | Econofact

Demographic Changes Pose Challenges for Higher Education

By Nathan Grawe·July 29, 2018
Carleton College

The Issue:

Demographics are working against colleges and universities. For many years, the forces of domestic migration and immigration, as well as fertility differences across racial and ethnic groups, have nudged the U.S. population toward the Hispanic Southwest — a market with relatively weaker attachment ...
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Teacher Pension Paradox: Rising Costs and Stagnant or Declining Benefits

By Cory Koedel and Michael Podgursky·May 17, 2018
University of Missouri

The Issue:

Teachers’ strikes across the United States reflect increasing frustration with stagnant compensation and a perceived lack of sufficient funding for education. An important component of the stagnant compensation of teachers is the rising costs of funding pensions. Accumulated debt, in the form of promised ...
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Going Away to College? School Distance as a Barrier to Higher Education

By Abigail Wozniak·March 22, 2018
University of Notre Dame

The Issue:

Geographic location is an important factor in determining not just where, but whether, a high school senior goes on to college. For those who live far from a higher-education institution, the costs of moving across state or county lines are large, and often go far beyond direct travel or start-up adjustment ...
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The University Endowment Income Tax: Who Will Pay it and Why Was it Implemented?

By Phillip Levine·January 25, 2018
Wellesley College

The Issue:

The recently enacted federal tax legislation levies a tax on the endowment income of colleges and universities with large endowments. The schools that will likely be covered by the new provision have large sticker prices and low- and middle-income students tend to be underrepresented in their student ...
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How Proposed Changes in State and Local Tax Deductions Matter for Public Schools

By Nora Gordon·November 9, 2017
McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University

The Issue:

Public K-12 education depends almost completely on state and local funding. But, the federal government makes it easier to raise the funds necessary to pay for public education by allowing taxpayers to deduct their state and local taxes from their federal taxable income. Current tax reform plans by both ...
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The Case For Protecting Student Loan Borrowers

By Susan Dynarski·July 17, 2017
University of Michigan

The Issue:

Debt from student loans has grown rapidly over the past decade. Policies that regulate the management and oversight of student loans impact over 40 million U.S. households. Since taking office as U.S. Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos has taken measures to roll back some Obama-era regulations designed ...
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College Financial Aid: What You Don’t Know Can Cost You

By Phillip Levine·May 30, 2017
Wellesley College

The Issue:

Sky-high listed college costs at many elite private colleges and universities are clearly unaffordable for the vast majority of the population and dissuade many people from even applying to these schools. Yet the widespread availability of extensive financial aid at many of these institutions brings ...
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The Diploma Gap: Growing Costs of an Unfinished College Education

By David Deming·May 24, 2017
Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Graduate School of Education

The Issue:

College attendance rates have risen steadily for three decades, despite increasing college costs. However, college completion rates have flatlined. Students who drop out before obtaining a college degree are missing out on the higher earnings and improved employment opportunities available to college ...
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Income Differences in Education: the Gap Within the Gap

By Katherine Michelmore and Susan Dynarski·April 20, 2017
Syracuse University and University of Michigan

The Issue:

Students from poor families tend to score much lower on academic tests than their better-off peers. The achievement gap has grown over time: it is wider today than it was 25 years ago. This is particularly worrisome because test scores are early indications of whether a child will go on to attend college ...
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