New working paper finds that tightening access to Parent PLUS loans from 2012-15 particularly affected HBCUs, which reduced spending on instruction and student services, coinciding with declines in retention and graduation rates edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1483

New video here describing the open-source R code MDRC has made available to help other researchers efficiently and consistently process data from the National Student Clearinghouse, one of the most frequently used data sources for measuring outcomes in higher education youtu.be/vq__yC4nGtc?...

Just a friendly reminder that theology is classified as a "professional" program by ED. And education programs have better debt-to-earnings outcomes than several other professional fields. www.educationnext.org/new-caps-on-...

Many higher ed supports assume students seek out resources if needed, but this seems a flawed assumption. Embedding tutoring and advisors in courses rather than expecting students seek them out increases success in the course by 5% and persistence by 10%! Paper: edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1485

The least understood driving rule in America is the right-of-way for two opposing cars at a two-way stop is determined by which way the cars are turning, not which car arrived first

Top story on the @nytimes.com app. A big sign that this all-important story is breaking into mainstream consciousness.

Calling all Scientists! Research Administrators! Deans! Fans of Science! No one is coming to save us. Here is your assignment. I have written a step by step, easy to understand "how-to" document to help you comment on the proposed OMB rule. elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/what-we-ne...

The Office of Management and Budget published long-expected proposed rules for how federal agencies must carry out Trump’s order to put “senior appointees” in charge of deciding who gets funded. The proposal also ends an effort to cap indirect cost rates. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

BREAKING: New proposed OMB regulation, applying to all federal grants, requiring grant reviews by senior political appointees and re-emphasizes that "peer review remains advisory and does not replace agency discretion". #standupforscience public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-10817.pdf

New research on the effects of the Tennessee Promise finds a sizable impact on associate degree completions by age 21 and that the program likely passes a cost-benefit test.

There are dozens - if not hundreds - of talented education researchers no longer working in the field because of this (soon-to-be) illegal impoundment

🚨 "More than $1 billion of the currently unapportioned Education Department funds will expire and return to the Treasury if OMB doesn’t release the money in the next four months." by @marklieberman.bsky.social www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

There's a big disconnect between what neg reg "consensus" actually means and what the public thinks it means, which the federal government uses to its advantage in public statements

A new study from the PEER Center looks at how for-profit colleges responded to the closing of the 90/10 loophole Colleges close to the 90% threshold responded by dramatically raising total revenue--likely by increasing enrollment of non-Title IV students static1.squarespace.com/static/68c72...

25 States Sue ED Over Grad Student Loan Limits www.insidehighered.com/news/student...

What’s happening to science in the US now? In the future? 20% fewer grad students at MIT sums it up well Our future is fewer scientists, patents, cures, discoveries Less growth, less progress, less knowledge

The gloomy headlines about the future of American higher ed been seemingly relentless. But the discourse is missing some basic(and surprising) facts about what’s actually happening right now. Here are 10....

New research using Texas data highlights that while completing a college credential typically pays off, there is important variation by institution attended and field of study. But even bachelor's degrees in the humanities still paid off.

Turns out it is possible to make financial aid simpler for students! The FAFSA is working, more students are applying for and qualifying to college, and qualifying for aid. @donmoyn.bsky.social was nice enough to have me guest author for Can We Still Govern donmoynihan.substack.com/p/good-news-...

GAO is out with a new report showing, after FAFSA simplification, the number of students eligible for the Pell Grant increased by 6% and the number eligible for the maximum award increased by 31% And that's despite a 2% decrease in the number of applications www.gao.gov/products/gao...

Really promising evidence on the early effects of California's mandatory school start times policy (which I was a big advocate for back in the day!). Glad to see this is scaling well www.nber.org/papers/w3518...

“‘I think of being rural so different now:’ How affinity groups can be a lifeline for rural students” by @emilylytle.bsky.social via @opencampus.org www.opencampus.org/2026/05/07/i...

Federal Student Aid wants to hire 334 full-time employees by 2027 — a 45% increase from current levels. So, wait. DOGE didn't work??? www.politico.com/news/2026/05...

To the extent that graduate programs cut prices due to federal student loan limits, it's going to be driven by reducing the number of credits required. Master's programs have been shedding credits over the last 15 years, and that is likely to accelerate.

New: Since DOGE cut the statistical arm of the Education Department, basic facts about American schools are no longer readily available. Some of these data points can be found elsewhere but are now harder to track down. Others simply don't exist anymore. www.chalkbeat.org/2026/05/07/e...

New: Trump's OMB is withholding more than $2 billion Congress approved in February for K-12 and higher education. Advocates and experts weigh in on what this means and whether it's time to panic: www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

The median earnings of a high school graduate in the state is not the appropriate counterfactual for the typical cosmetology student

262 business days. That’s how long the Department of Education told us it would take for it to respond to our recent records request. That’s not how freedom of information is supposed to work. By @charlesornstein.bsky.social

Come learn about some free resources to help researchers forecast RCT sample sizes, part of the broader suite of resources MDRC has made public to help researchers conduct RCTs in higher education You'll also get to see my living room the cleanest it has been since my second child was born

100%. The most common rules of thumb for meaningful effect sizes were developed prior to the empirical revolution in the social sciences, and we now know they are wildly overestimated for causal effect estimates.

Three notable fields left out of ED's final definition of professional degree programs: nurse practitioners, educators, and social workers I feel like these fields have something in common but I can't quite put a female on it

I'm surprised they didn't reverse course at least on nursing Excluding nursing is both a bad decision on the merits and politically, IMO

NEW! Why Bayesian Statistics Might Be the Right Approach for Making Policy, by MDRC's Charles Michalopoulos and Pei Zhu www.mdrc.org/work/publica...

Featuring a new @aefplivehandbook.bsky.social chapter! www.forbes.com/sites/peterg...

It is hard to imagine how IES could possibly award $300 million of research funding over the next five months Seems like we're on a clear path to a violation of the Impoundment Control Act www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

The Stand Up for Science Foundation (a nonpartisan 501c3) is launching a new Institute to craft and implement policy that will address the damage to federal agencies and institutions, recenter evidence-based decision making, and reestablish the United States as a global leader in science. 2/7

No one is talking about the group that has been hardest hit by gas prices: parents of toddlers who will only nap in the car

One group is estimating that more than a third of IES's budget will not be spent, mainly because the external review processes have been demolished.

It's kind of astonishing that ED is taking 1-2 years to process PSLF buyback requests, and we (the courts) have tacitly said that's satisfactory fulfillment of their legal obligations While thousands of people have to put their financial lives on hold and deal with anxiety from the uncertainty

ED now says it wants to give Grad PLUS borrowers only 3 years of exemption from lifetime borrowing limits That means some PhD students could have the rug pulled out from under them Which would be a great way for ED to ensure their loans never get paid back www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

NEW! REACT Intervention Reenrolls Nearly Twice as Many Students Who Have Stopped Attending College www.mdrc.org/work/publica...

The state funding reform bill in Illinois was not brought to a House vote this session It's a unique proposal with an emphasis on adequate and equitable funding Unsurprisingly, it has been opposed by the University of Illinois, which would benefit the least from it ipmnewsroom.org/higher-educa...

New paper from me and Chris Klager. While at the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC), one question came up repeatedly: are educational programs differentially effective for different subgroups? The short answer: some subgroup effects may be real, but caution is needed. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Reupping this because it's probably the most exciting result from a higher ed RCT at MDRC in 5+ years and it got almost no traction yesterday Colleges and states are looking for strategies to reengage "some college no degree" students These early findings suggest we've found an effective approach!

Join us and @newamerica.org on 4/21 for a conversation about the role of higher ed as the fifth pillar of democracy and how building a durable defense for the sector requires embedding that principle in law, institutional culture, and the public imagination. Learn more and register: bit.ly/4tawBV9

Presidential Essay: @aefpweb.bsky.social's Role in an Evidence-Informed Education Ecosystem via @efpjournal.bsky.social direct.mit.edu/edfp/article...

Senate Democrats introduced a resolution to overturn Trump's executive order barring loan forgiveness for borrowers who work at an employer that supports undocumented immigrants or transgender youth apnews.com/article/publ...

New RCT findings from MDRC on a program to reenroll stopped-out community college students within 15 credits of a degree The program, REACT, includes outreach, advising, and tuition waivers Early findings show it nearly doubled reenrollment, from 11% to 21% www.mdrc.org/sites/defaul...

There are a lot of dystopian things these days, but the worst might be that McDonald's Play Places are now just tablets attached to the wall

Reflecting on #AEFP2026: @dbassok.bsky.social, Michal & I talk about the amazing work the @aefpweb.bsky.social community is doing 💗 Many thanks to the @brookings.edu team, especially Jon Valant, @rachelmarisa.bsky.social & Mike Hansen for helpful feedback. www.brookings.edu/articles/reb...