News

The United States government has a portfolio of roughly $1 trillion in student loans, many of which appear to be troubled writes Susan Dynarski in the business section of the Sunday New York Times. Dynarski’s column, “We’re frighteningly in the dark...

Susan Dynarski recently co-authored “How can we track trends in educational attainment by parental income? Hint: not with the Current Population Study,” posted March 12 by the Brookings Institution.With Matthew M. Chingos of Brookings, Dynarski...

Brian Jacob was called to testify last week as a witness for the prosecution in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating trial, in which prosecutors allege a dozen educators engaged in a “widespread, cleverly disguised” conspiracy to improve their...

Education Week highlights Isaac McFarlin Jr.’s latest study in “Failing a Placement Exam Does Not Discourage College Enrollment,” posted by Caralee Adams on January 15.“State test cited in lower college enrollments,” a 1995 Dallas Morning News...

Governor Scott Walker’s (R-WI) proposed cuts to the University of Wisconsin system are the largest the system has ever faced, according to UW-Madison chancellor Rebecca Blank in the recent Inside Higher Ed article, "Deep Cuts in Wisconsin," by Ry...

The White House is backing down on a minor provision detailed in the Obama administration’s tax reform proposals, but Susan Dynarski doesn’t think that provision should be given up on so easily. The Los Angeles Times’ Kathleen Hennessy writes about...

Vast inequalities currently exist in the U.S. education system – there is little debate among experts on this issue. And while it’s the ambitious system-level reform proposals that garner widespread attention, several seemingly simple...

Janet Napolitano’s lecture and Ford School visit was highlighted in a Michigan Daily article, “Napolitano calls on students to engage in public service,” published today.The story, written by Anastassios Adamopoulos, recapped Napolitano’s address,...

Four University of Michigan scholars, including three Ford School faculty members, made Rick Hess’s Education Week ranking of the most influential U.S. scholars in education policy--those who contribute most substantially to public debates about...

The "FAFSA-on-a-postcard legislation is gaining traction," writes LA Times reporter Carla Rivera in the January 6 article,"Move to simplify federal student aid application form gains traction." In the coming days, Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN)...

"Do you want to inform consumers? Drive down tuition prices? Hold colleges accountable? No one rating can do all those things," Professor Susan Dynarski tells NPR’s All Things Considered in the December 19 story, “The fate of the administration’s...

Professor Susan Dynarski and alum Brandy Johnson (MPP ‘09) traveled to Washington, DC for the Obama Administration’s College Opportunity Day of Action on December 4, 2014. They joined President Barack Obama, the First Lady, and Vice President Biden,...

Susan Dynarski spoke with Marketplace Morning Report for a November 13 story discussing new statistics on student loan debt released by The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS). The cost of getting a bachelor’s degree remains on the rise,...

A current Education Policy Initiative study is the topic of the September 26 MLive article by Roberto Acosta, “University of Michigan studies reading system that Flushing woman created; state officials interested in results.” The system is...

“The Obama administration seems intent on putting [college] ratings in place in short order,” writes Dynarski in “Why Federal College Ratings Won’t Rein In Tuition,” published in the Sunday, September 21 edition of The New York Times. “Along with...

“The Obama administration is preparing a system of college ratings that it hopes will improve college quality and hold down tuition by arming consumers with better information,” writes Susan Dynarski in The Upshot, The New York Times’ curated blog...

Brian Jacob has been awarded a $98,487 grant from the Spencer Foundation to study the effectiveness of No Child Left Behind waiver-related reform programs on schools across the country. The study is titled School Reforms and Educational Inequality?...

Student loan interest rates have risen from 3.86 to 4.66 percent this fall, and critics are arguing that the government should lower rates again or risk lower college attendance and more defaults on student debt. According to Susan Dynarski, though,...

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a policy statement that American high schools should start later in the day for health reasons, reports Dan Weissman of Marketplace Morning Report in the August 25 episode "High school will keep starting...

Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo) have proposed a bipartisan bill to dramatically simplify the college financial aid form. They announced their proposal in the op-ed column, "An Answer on a Postcard," published by The New...

In his May 10 story for the New York Times' Upshot, Harvard economist Sendhil Mullainathan argues that the gender pay gap can reverse by 2064. Mullainathan draws evidence from education, citing the work of Ford School Professor Brian Jacob in his...

In 2014, Susan Dynarski will serve as a nonresident senior fellow in the Brookings Institution's Economic Studies program. The Brookings Economic Studies program analyzes current and emerging economic policy issues facing the United States and aims...

Brian Jacob, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy and co-director of the Education Policy Initiative, has received a $200,000 grant from the Walton Family Foundation to study the effectiveness of online learning in the K-12...

As part of "Educational Pathways and Employment Outcomes of Community College Students," a major research project led by Peter Bahr, Susan M. Dynarski and Brian A. Jacob, the Education Policy Initiative (EPI) held a dialogue on Wednesday, May 7, at...

In nearly eight years, the federal No Child Left Behind school reforms have become perhaps the most controversial yet far-reaching educational policies of the past four decades. Opponents are turning their fire on No Child now that it is up for...