Over the last decade and a half, during a period defined in the public consciousness by political partisanship, the legislative and executive branches have quietly forged a bipartisan consensus around the need to build evidence of effectiveness that would ensure high rates of return on investment for the nation's social programs. The establishment…

About 19 million students were enrolled in nearly 3,900 degree-granting colleges across the U.S. during the fall 2022 semester. Many colleges have student health centers that provide health care to the students on their campuses. Among other things, student health centers may offer sexual and reproductive health care, which includes things such as…

When the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized in 2004, it included provisions to reduce administrative and paperwork requirements to address concerns about burden. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review federal efforts to reduce burden related to meeting IDEA requirements for educating…

Members of Congress and others have questioned whether expanding the scope of the Medicare graduate medical education (GME) program to include nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) could help mitigate the effects of a physician shortage in the United States. A Senate Committee on Appropriations report asked the US Government…

Enacted in 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) brought numerous changes to existing federal employment and training programs, including requiring the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Education (Education) to implement a common performance accountability system across the six WIOA-designated core programs. WIOA…

This testimony was presented before the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity on March 17, 2015. To inform the Subcommittee hearing on the Department of Veterans Affairs' administration of its education programs, and the educational and training needs of post-9/11 veterans, the presenters offered the statement in…

This hearing is the third in a series examining critical issues in postsecondary education as the committee looks to reauthorize the Higher Education Act. The topic discussed is of paramount importance and is arguably the bedrock of Federal higher education policy, that is, the Federal financial aid programs and their effectiveness in providing…

The rising cost of college textbooks has recently become a topic of intense public debate. It is perceived as a significant barrier to college attendance, and an assortment of legislative remedies has been proposed. This position paper of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges explains that profit is just one of a complex series of…