Posted on 09/14/2018 7:34:16 AM PDT by reaganaut1
No one can accuse Education Secretary Betsy DeVos of inaction. Just within the past few weeks, her Department of Education announced the overhaul of two major Obama-era regulations. The next stage of DeVos’ agenda will review several of the rules governing which higher education institutions and programs are eligible for federal funding, with an eye toward giving colleges more flexibility.
The changes DeVos will likely attempt highlight a dilemma all conservative higher-education reformers face: the tension between promoting innovation and protecting taxpayers.
While still in development, DeVos’ agenda comes down firmly on the side of creating a more hospitable environment for educational innovation. For instance, she wants to encourage the growth of competency-based programs, whose degree requirements focus on learning skills rather than completing semesters. Limitations on when aid-eligible colleges can contract with third-party educational providers are in DeVos’ crosshairs as well. And the Trump administration has also expressed interest in allowing short-term educational programs to receive federal grants. (Currently, programs must exceed 600 hours of class time, or around 20 weeks for a full-time student.)
In the optimists’ view, deregulating aid eligibility will free colleges to develop new models to equip students with the skills they need to thrive in tomorrow’s economy. Short-term programs will help the workforce adapt to a rapidly changing labor market. Partnerships between traditional colleges and outside providers will combine the best features of reputable incumbents and nimble startups.
But there are big potential downsides to DeVos’s proposals. Allowing greater flexibility in loan eligibility also means giving out taxpayer money to schools and programs not currently receiving it, which will increase total federal spending on higher education. According to the Congressional Budget Office, allowing short-term programs alone could cost half a billion dollars over the next decade.
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
Bring back the death penalty. Get the Feds out of education and education financing.
Pass a law saying colleges and university cannot be given federal money....EVER. Problem solved.
Cut them loose from Fedzilla, no more taxpayer subsidies for Marxist Indoctrination Centers.
If they have to survive on their own, they will reform or fold.
DITCH COMMON CORE . . .NOW! IT HAS AND IS RUINING MATH PROGRAMS ALL ACROSS AMERICA (not to mention the students’ future). . . DUMMYING DOWN IS AND HAS BEEN ALL ALONG THE INTENT. I am subbing and last week I found that 2nd graders in this school district have no idea what they are doing, parents don’t have a clue and if students answer a simple math fact without showing detailed work on how they arrived at the answers, they get it marked wrong. I bought the entire class flash cards (addition and subtraction) along with an “I Love Math” pencil. This week a little girl from the class came up to me and said she and her mother are working with the flash cards. Memorization is good for the brain. Duh!
Agreed! I've only heard of one school creating a reduction now that taxes and regulations have been rolled back:
Bucking the 'Prestige Pricing' Trend
St. John's College plans to reduce tuition and use donations to make up for lost revenue under a new funding model designed to make the college more affordable and accessible.
Betsy DeVos’s mandate should be the complete elimination of the Dept of Education.
No more bribes and Federal Mandates.
Transition ALL educational decisions back to the States.
Some States will need Federal funds during this transition, and they should be put on a path to self sufficiency.
Betsy, Shut Down the Dept of Education Now !!!!!!
Cut the budget, too much tax money.
Yes eliminating that department would be ideal. But I think before that can happen it needs to be severely pruned and overhauled and the states at the same time need to take over. Have the private sector play a role is key. States need to be able to fire bad teachers. There needs to be more parent involvement and control. Eliminating common core. There has to be testing of competency otherwise there is no measure of progress, and wouldn’t it be nice to link teacher pay to performance. I supported her nomination, had the occasion to speak with her a couple of days ago. It’s a big job but I told her she is the one that can do it.
This is while they have billion of dollars in endowments.
If we must have government grants then let them be for short term training programs rather then mostly worthless four year degrees from fat cat universities.
Betsy should take a few meetings with Mick Mulvaney.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.