Spellings Commission Report on Affordability and Access to Higher Education: changing demographics, economic crisis and investment in human capital

Orkodashvili, Mariam (2009): Spellings Commission Report on Affordability and Access to Higher Education: changing demographics, economic crisis and investment in human capital.

Abstract

The paper discusses report of The Spellings Commission for Future of Higher Education that was set up to look into the issues facing the higher education system in the U.S., outline the challenges and offer recommendations to tackle the problems. Most importantly, The Spellings Commission Report raised the issue of the role of federal government in the development of higher education system. The paper focuses on one of the issues raised by the Spellings Commission, access to higher education. The paper suggests that today access still remains an issue for higher education in the U.S. Adjusting to changing demographic trends, increased ethnic diversity and increased enrollments with limited federal resources and complicated federal aid system is still a challenge of the future. The question that remains to be answered is: ‘Will the federal government sustain its traditional commitment to equalizing opportunities for higher education?’

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: changing demographics; economic development; economic growth; access to higher education; equity and affordability; federal funding of higher education; workforce; investment in human capital; social capital growth.
• Subjects: J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J4 - Particular Labor Markets > J41 - Labor Contracts; Z - Other Special Topics > Z1 - Cultural Economics ; Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology > Z13 - Economic Sociology ; Economic Anthropology ; Social and Economic Stratification; H - Public Economics > H5 - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies > H53 - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I22 - Educational Finance ; Financial Aid; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J11 - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy > E24 - Employment ; Unemployment ; Wages ; Intergenerational Income Distribution ; Aggregate Human Capital ; Aggregate Labor Productivity; N - Economic History > N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy > N30 - General, International, or Comparative; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J0 - General; A - General Economics and Teaching > A1 - General Economics > A14 - Sociology of Economics; A - General Economics and Teaching > A2 - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics > A23 - Graduate; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O15 - Human Resources ; Human Development ; Income Distribution ; Migration; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I21 - Analysis of Education; A - General Economics and Teaching > A2 - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics > A22 - Undergraduate; A - General Economics and Teaching > A1 - General Economics > A13 - Relation of Economics to Social Values; A - General Economics and Teaching > A1 - General Economics > A12 - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I28 - Government Policy; H - Public Economics > H5 - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies > H52 - Government Expenditures and Education

References

A Test of Leadership. Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education. A Report of the Commission Appointed by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. U.S. Department of Education, September 2006.

Baum, S. (February, 2007). Testimony before the U.S. committee on Health, Education, labor and Pensions. Hearing: “Higher Education, Higher Cost and Higher Debt: Paying for College in the Future” Comments on the Spellings Commission Report from the Executive Council of the Modern Language Association of America, March 2007. MLA. http://www.mla.org/comments_spellingsreport

Congressional Testimonies: Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness Subcommittee Hearing: ‘The State of Higher Education: How Students Access and Finance a College Education.’ 03/08/07. http://edworkforce.house.gov/hearings/hellc030807.shtml.

Durkheim, E. (1956). Cited in: Halsey A. H. (1961). The Changing Functions of Universities. In A.H. Halsey, Jean Floud, and C. Arnold Anderson (eds.) Education, Economy, and Society. A Reader in the Sociology of Education (p. 457), The Free Press of Glencoe, Inc.

Dynarski, S. (2006, December 5). Oral Testimony of Dr. Susan Dynarski before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate.

Gladieux, L. E., King, J. E., and Corrigan, M. E. (2005). The Federal Government and Higher Education. In P. G. Altbach, R. O. Berdahl, and P. J. Gumport (Eds.) (2005). American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century. Social, Political, and Economic Challenges. Second Edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London.

Long, B.T. (2006, December 5). Testimony of Dr. Bridget Terry Long before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance. Hearing: “Report Card on Tax Exemptions and Incentives for Higher Education: Pass, Fail, or Need Improvement?”

Reactions to the Spellings Commission Report from scholars and educators: Source: http://www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/ct0406/Spellings.pdf