The Education Sector

Updates, Analysis, and Commentary on Today's Education Issues

This Week

Top Stories in Higher Ed

If you follow higher education, a few student lending stories are worth noting: the Direct Loan program's start as the sole provider of federal student loans and ongoing transition, the controversies around for-profit colleges, and rising student loan default rates. This week, we're highlighting some of our own latest research and commentary on these important issues.

The 411 on Cohort Default Rates

In this presentation, Policy Analyst Ben Miller explains the ins and outs of cohort default rates and why the new rates have important implications for students, parents, and schools.

Lowering Student Loan Default Rates

In this Education Sector report, co-authors Erin Dillon and Robin V. Smiles discuss the growing problem of students defaulting on their student loans. Based on the experiences of a small group of Texas HBCUs and a new statistical analysis of cohort default rates, they argue that institutions play a significant role in helping students avoid default. (Also listen to our related event on minority-serving institutions!)

Drowning in Debt: The Emerging Student Loan Crisis

In this Chart You Can Trust, Erin Dillon and Kevin Carey find college students are borrowing more and taking on riskier forms of debt than ever before. The consequences for students, they say, could be catastrophic.

Hidden Details: A Closer Look at Student Loan Default Rates

Senior Policy Analyst Erin Dillon reveals that the U.S. Department of Education's reporting of overall student loan default rates masks much higher default rates for specific groups of students.

Taking An Incomplete

In The New Republic, Kevin Carey argues that while the recent student loan reforms are a victory for the Obama administration, a real opportunity was missed in helping more students graduate from college.

Higher Ed Coverage on The Quick and the Ed

Read our latest blog coverage on student loans and other higher education issues from our resident experts Chad Aldeman, Kevin Carey, Ben Miller, and Erin Dillon.

Also From Education Sector

Virginia's Common Core

In announcing Virginia's withdrawal from round two of the federal Race to the Top competition, Governor Robert McDonnell indicated that the state's Standards of Learning are "much superior" than any common standards would be. But are they? On at least two measures—one national, one international—the answer is no, argues Communications Manager Kris Amundson in a recent commentary for The Washington Post.

The time is right to step up education standards in Virginia, says Amundson. "By awarding a passing grade on standards that do not measure up, Virginia is telling students that they are ready-for the next grade, for college and for a workplace ... but ask the 24.2 percent of Virginia high school graduates who have to enroll in one or more remedial classes whether they were ready for college-level work ... or Virginia employers if potential employees are ready for the job. ..."

But there are steps Virginia can take now to improve, and reconsidering adopting the Common Core standards may be the first step, argues Amundson.

Ra-Ra-Sis-Boom-Bah!

Is cheerleading a sport? This is the question the courts are trying to answer for a Connecticut university that is trying to replace woman’s volleyball with competitive cheerleading. The matter is a case of interpreting the law that governs gender equality in athletics—Title IX. Education Sector’s Elena Silva notes in the New York Times, "a lot of schools sponsor sports that do not have N.C.A.A. championships or which aren’t considered traditional sports—sand volleyball, badminton. ... As long as these sports are treated as varsity (facilities, funding, coaching, etc.) then they can count these opportunities toward their gender equity efforts."

Announcements

Intern this Fall!

We're seeking applications for fall interns. Interns are integral to Education Sector's policy, research, and communications teams. This review from a recent intern says it all:

"I'm really not exaggerating when I say that working at Education Sector was the best internship I've ever had. The internship is very substantive, and I've gotten to learn a lot about a variety of topics in the education policy world from doing research on the job."

So come on, spend your fall in Washington! Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so apply now!

In the EduBlog

Trending on the Quick and the Ed

A selection of our most-read blog posts of the week.

Bogus Trend Stories at the New York Times

Yesterday Slate called out the New York Times for bogus trend stories (Circle lenses are all the rage! But they're potentially dangerous!). Throw this one in the same heap. It's about a 24 year-old named Scott Nicholson who graduated from Colgate College University in 2008 and hasn't been able to find a job …

Pretty Bulletin Boards: Education's Stiffest Competition?

…But during this same period of time, after countless conversations about competition and incentives, teachers and principals haven't made the drastic gains and improvements that we're all hoping for. Why is this? Well, at the elementary and middle school levels, I partly blame pretty bulletin boards like this one. …

Living in a Post-NCLB World, Part II

A couple of weeks ago, in the course a long post about how we came to live in a post-NCLB world, I wrote: Why did this happen? First, because NCLB didn't work very well. … I've been thinking about this some more and thought it would be worth elaborating. …

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