💡 New from us: Improving socioeconomic diversity at highly endowed colleges, the Department of Education and the Trump administration, supporting postsecondary students, welfare reform and the evolution of the safety net, and Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelans in jeopardy.
Elite private colleges and universities educate a small slice of American college students, but their large endowments create opportunities to provide an affordable, high-quality education to those with lower incomes. Phillip Levine documents the recent strides elite colleges have made in improving enrollment of Pell Grant eligible students. Greater recruitment efforts on the part of these institutions along with increased financial aid are likely contributors.
College access and success don’t happen by chance—they require strategic support from researchers, policymakers, and institutions. Sarah Reber’s recent analysis adds to her prior work on how to improve college access and completion. She argues that improving college access and completion requires efforts from multiple stakeholders and points out ways in which each can bolster college-going and college success.
What would happen if the U.S. Department of Education were drastically restructured—or even eliminated? Katharine Meyer, Rachel M. Perera, Sarah Reber, and Jon Valant tackle the most pressing questions in our ongoing series, "Why We Have and Need a U.S. Department of Education." They explore the legal challenges to dismantling the department, the potential consequences of further workforce reductions, and the uncertain future of critical programs like Title I and IDEA. Their analysis sheds light on the risks and realities of reshaping federal education policy.
Since welfare reform in 1996, the safety net for low-income families has shifted from direct cash assistance to tax credits and in-kind benefits. Lucie Schmidt, Lara Shore-Sheppard, and Tara Watson analyze how these changes have widened the gap between support for working families and those without earnings. They explore two core debates that continue to shape policy: the balance between incentivizing work and alleviating material hardship, and the division of responsibility between states and the federal government. Their analysis unpacks how these tensions define the future of social safety net programs.
Stan Veuger and Tara Watson provide expert insight to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on the consequences of ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuelans. Without TPS, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans will lose legal status, work authorization, and protection from deportation. Deporting Venezuelan TPS holders would require cooperation with the Maduro regime, clashing with the administration’s stance on his government’s legitimacy.
