higher education

State & Hill

An economic eye on equity in higher ed

Dec 19, 2022

As the first chief economist in the U.S. Department of Education, Ford School alumnus Jordan Matsudaira (PhD ’05), seeks to identify and implement policies that best promote student success—academically and financially—in higher education. Ford...

In the Media

Weed-out classes disproportionately discourage minority students - Thompson

Jan 5, 2022 Boston Herald

Studies found that "weed-out classes," or classes that are often foundational for a certain educational track and have high enrollment, often disproportionately weed out minority students, according to Marissa Thompson, a postdoctoral fellow in...

Weed-out classes disproportionately discourage minority students - Thompson

News

Lawmakers seek out U-M faculty for expertise on various topics

Dec 1, 2021

Federal lawmakers continue to seek out University of Michigan faculty members to lend their expertise and knowledge to help inform federal policy. In the last year, 13 U-M faculty members and researchers testified at 14 congressional hearings...

In the Media

Dynarski testifies on tax reform

Jun 30, 2021 Inside Higher Ed

On Tuesday, Susan Dynarski, professor of public policy, education and economics, testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on how current tax benefits aren't reaching the students they are meant to help. “The education tax benefits...

Susan Dynarski: University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor Lecture

In the Media

Lewis: shrinking graduate pipelines, publication bottlenecks, and hope for reimagining graduate education

Feb 15, 2021 The Chronicle of Higher Education

“By the time we get to ’25 or ’26, we may look back and realize that we’ve reached a new plateau, that it [graduate student populaiton] was not as high as it was in 2010, let alone 2015,” said Earl Lewis, commenting on of the effects of the pandemic...

Lewis: shrinking graduate pipelines, publication bottlenecks, and hope for reimagining graduate education

News

How the federal government could make college free

Oct 13, 2020 "How the federal government could make college free" article

"Kevin Stange is quoted in a recent Market Watch article." (read...

Two students walking on a college campus

News

Stange highlights the value of in-person higher education in light of the Coronavirus crisis

May 29, 2020

An article in Marketwatch on May 29 posits, “Coronavirus raises new questions about the value of higher education,” and looks at how students are changing their plans in light of an increase in online course offerings at universities. In an online...

Stange examines data bias caused by college graduates' out-of-state migration

News

Dynarski’s work on school day SAT testing cited in Inside Higher Ed analysis of the 2019 test results

Nov 8, 2019

Sue Dynarski’s research is cited in a recent Inside Higher Ed analysis of an initiative that expanded access to the SAT for low-income, first-generation, and minority students. 2019 marked the highest number of SAT test-takers to date: 2.2...

News

It’s HAILing coverage for Susan Dynarski and team

Dec 21, 2018

Last week, Susan Dynarski, Ford School professor, and her fellow researchers released a new research study titled “Closing the Gap: The Effect of a Targeted, Tuition-Free Promise on College Choices of High-Achieving, Low-Income Students.” Since...

It’s HAILing coverage for Susan Dynarski and team

News

HAILed it: Tuition-free promise effectively recruits low-income students to U-M

Dec 12, 2018

ANN ARBOR—High-achieving, low-income students who received personalized commitment of financial aid are more than twice as likely to apply, be admitted to and enroll in a top-tier university, according to a new University of Michigan...

HAILed it: Tuition-free promise effectively recruits low-income students to U-M

News

Dynarski calls the legacy admission bump 'unconscionable'

Oct 30, 2018

As universities hone their admissions processes to reflect fairness and build a diverse student body, legacy students still have an advantage, warns Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times. Susan Dynarski, Ford School professor, agrees. “Legacy...

News

Susan Dynarski on Michigan Radio's "Stateside": Ways to fix America’s student loan mess

Feb 8, 2018

Susan Dynarski was interviewed by Cynthia Canty of Michigan Radio’s “Stateside” program for the recent on-air segment: “Australia, England offer clues on how to fix America’s student loan mess.” “We don’t have much of a safety net in our country,”...

Susan Dynarski on Michigan Radio's "Stateside": Ways to fix America’s student loan mess

News

Susan Dynarski testifies on student loans before U.S. Senate HELP committee

Jan 18, 2018

Susan Dynarski will testify in front of the United States Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee (HELP) hearing “Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act: Financial Aid Simplification and Transparency.” The hearing will be livestreamed...

Susan Dynarski testifies on student loans before U.S. Senate HELP committee

News

U-M's Go Blue Guarantee—free tuition for BA students with need—makes national headlines

Jun 19, 2017

Mark Schlissel, president of the University of Michigan, recently announced the “Go Blue Guarantee,” which pledges four years of free tuition for admitted in-state students whose families earn less than $65,000 per year. The program is based, in...

U-M's Go Blue Guarantee—free tuition for BA students with need—makes national headlines

News

In The New York Times, Susan Dynarski describes “The wrong way to fix student debt”

May 8, 2017

In a May 6 “Economic View” column for The New York Times, "The wrong way to fix student debt," Susan Dynarski describes three recent regulatory changes that are “making student loans riskier, more expensive and more burdensome for borrowers.”The...

News

Susan Dynarski in New York Times on the recent FAFSA fumble

Mar 13, 2017

Susan Dynarski’s recent article, "A fumble on a key FAFSA tool, and a failure to communicate," was published by The New York Times earlier today. The piece takes a critical look at the IRS shutdown of the FAFSA's data retrieval tool earlier this...

News

Susan Dynarski in NYT, “A conveyor belt of dropouts and debt at for-profit colleges”

Oct 31, 2016

Susan Dynarski, in Sunday’s New York Times, describes for-profit colleges as having “a conveyor belt of dropouts and debt.”Dynarski points out that enrollment at for-profit colleges has jumped, especially since the Great Recession, when increased...

News

In New York Times, Susan Dynarski welcomes FAFSA changes, urges more reforms

Sep 16, 2016

Susan Dynarski, a longtime advocate for simplifying the FAFSA (the financial aid application students and their families must submit for college), welcomes new changes and suggests future reforms in this Sunday's New York Times “Economic...

Professor Susan Dynarski’s research confirms the basis for radical educational innovation

News

Former White House Deputy Director James Kvaal is next Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence

Mar 10, 2016

The Ford School community will welcome former Deputy Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council James Kvaal as a Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence this fall. The White House announced Mr. Kvaal's departure this morning,...

Former White House Deputy Director James Kvaal is next Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence

News

On Michigan Radio, Alford Young Jr. calls for increased faculty diversity

Jan 6, 2016

In a recent interview on Michigan Radio, Alford Young Jr. discusses the lack of faculty diversity in the U.S. with Michigan State professor Django Paris. According to the article, 3.3 percent of University of Michigan faculty members are black,...

On Michigan Radio, Alford Young Jr. calls for increased faculty diversity

News

Susan Dynarski honored by Michigan for tackling barriers to education for low-income youth

Oct 8, 2015

On September 21st, State Representative Adam Zemke, State Senator Rebekah Warren, and Governor Rick Snyder honored Professor Susan Dynarski with a special tribute from the state for her work on the HAIL (High Achieving Involved Leaders) Scholarship...

News

Education Policy Initiative informs new pilot scholarship designed to enhance diversity at U-M

Sep 17, 2015

Last weekend throughout the state, an estimated 1,000 economically disadvantaged high school students with high GPAs and ACT scores found a major opportunity in their mailboxes from the University of Michigan. The students received a customized...

News

Sue Dynarski’s latest NYT TheUpshot column takes on income gap in college graduation

Jun 2, 2015

In a June 2 column in the New York Times, Ford School professor Susan Dynarski writes that “class trumps ability when it comes to college graduation.”Dynarski cites a recent publication from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), which...

News

Education Policy Initiative releases timely brief as Congress debates bipartisan FAST Act

May 15, 2015

As Congress debates reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, and with it the bipartisan FAST Act bill introduced by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Michael Bennet (D-CO), the Ford School’s Education Policy Initiative releases a timely new...

News

Susan Dynarski cited by Senator Elizabeth Warren at hearing on reauthorization of higher education act

May 7, 2015

Susan Dynarski’s New York Times article, “We’re frighteningly in the dark about student debt,” was cited by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) during the May 6 committee hearing, “Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act: The Role of Consumer Information...

Dynarski describes the merits of new FAFSA process in New York Times op-ed

News

“We’re frighteningly in the dark about student debt” writes Dynarski for The New York Times

Mar 21, 2015

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...

In Brookings, Dynarski investigates effects of slashing student loan interest rates

News

Dynarski argues for better educational attainment data in Brookings report

Mar 13, 2015

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...

News

Ford School faculty member, alum join White House College Opportunity Day of Action

Dec 4, 2014

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,...

Ford School faculty member, alum join White House College Opportunity Day of Action

News

Dynarski speaks with Marketplace about student loan debt increase

Nov 13, 2014

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,...

Dynarski speaks with Marketplace about student loan debt increase

News

Slow down, get college ratings right, Dynarski tells White House

Sep 22, 2014

“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...

Slow down, get college ratings right, Dynarski tells White House