Dive Brief:
- Outgoing Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said he is proud of the increased federal investment in higher education through student aid and other means, but highlighted three areas ripe for further gains.
- The New York Times reports Duncan said schools need to improve graduation rates, increase transparency, and seek more creative innovations to the traditional model.
- To get there, Duncan called for experimentation with incentives and other strategies, as well as an embrace of nontraditional students, who now make up the bulk of the college-going population.
Dive Insight:
As Duncan prepares to leave the department he led for nearly seven years, he has been asked to reflect on his successes and his failures. John B. King, a charter network founder and former New York City schools commissioner, will replace Duncan in December, leaving him just 10 months to meet his policy goals before a new president is elected.
In the flurry of reporting over Duncan's mixed legacy, the longtime secretary and former CEO of Chicago's city school district, has said he regrets it taking so long for the gainful employment rules to take effect. These rules are expected to remove federal financial aid eligibility from primarily for-profit actors for dismal student outcomes.