Skip to main content
skip

Search form


  • About
    • About
    • Why the Ford School?
    • Legacy of Gerald Ford
    • Diversity commitment
    • Engagement
    • Global Ford School
    • Ford School Committee
    • Jobs
    • Contact us
    • Ford School Centennial
  • Academics
    • Academics
    • Course listing
    • Master's programs
    • Undergraduate program
    • Doctoral program
    • Academic resources
    • STPP Grad Certificate
    • PPIA program
  • Admissions
    • Admissions
    • Tuition and residency
    • Planning your visit
    • Request more information
  • Careers & internships
    • Careers & internships
    • Undergraduates
    • Graduate students
    • Why hire from the Ford School?
    • Policy Grads at work
  • Research & action
    • Research
    • Faculty experts
    • Visiting policymakers
    • Research centers
    • Faculty publications
    • Research publications
  • Student life
    • Student life
    • Student organizations
    • Housing
    • Ann Arbor
  • News & events
    • News & events
    • News
    • Events
    • Publications
    • Video
    • Social media
  • Giving
    • Giving
    • Why give
    • Where to give
    • How to give
  • Prospective Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty/Staff
  • Employers
  • Policymakers & Press
  • Alumni
    • Alumni
    • Alumni events
    • Stay connected
    • Staebler Award
    • Alumni Board
Ford School Home PageThe Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan
  • Request a room
  • People
  • Intranet

Search form

  • About
    • About
    • Why the Ford School?
    • Legacy of Gerald Ford
    • Diversity commitment
    • Engagement
    • Global Ford School
    • Ford School Committee
    • Jobs
    • Contact us
    • Ford School Centennial
  • Academics
    • Academics
    • Course listing
    • Master's programs
    • Undergraduate program
    • Doctoral program
    • Academic resources
    • STPP Grad Certificate
    • PPIA program
  • Admissions
    • Admissions
    • Tuition and residency
    • Planning your visit
    • Request more information
  • Careers & internships
    • Careers & internships
    • Undergraduates
    • Graduate students
    • Why hire from the Ford School?
    • Policy Grads at work
  • Research & Action
    • Research
    • Faculty experts
    • Visiting policymakers
    • Research centers
    • Faculty publications
    • Research publications
  • Student life
    • Student life
    • Student organizations
    • Housing
    • Ann Arbor
  • News & events
    • News & events
    • News
    • Events
    • Publications
    • Video
    • Social media
  • Giving
    • Giving
    • Why give
    • Where to give
    • How to give
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Ford School faculty, alumnus on President Obama's higher education legacy

News


  • Upcoming Events
  • Past Events
  • News
  • Publications
  • Video
  • Social media
  • Upcoming Events
  • Past Events
  • News
  • Publications
  • Video
  • Social media

Ford School faculty, alumnus on President Obama's higher education legacy

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Jack Stripling of The Chronicle of Higher Education tells the story of “Obama’s Legacy: An Unlikely Hawk on Higher Ed.” In doing so, he seeks input from the “foot soldiers of Obama,” including two Ford School faculty members, James Kvaal and Betsey Stevenson, and one alumnus, Jordan Matsudaira (PhD '05).

Stripling delves into the effort by the president’s team to hold colleges responsible for the quality of education they offer. At first, the team pursued a ‘college-ratings plan’ with the intent to divide federal funding for schools according to their performance. With $31 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 going toward helping students go to college, Kvaal explains, “We felt pressure to demonstrate those dollars were being well spent.”

However, as Matsudaira notes, the team worried about the unintended consequences of a ratings system that might be based on faulty data or create incentives for colleges to manipulate their score. Eventually, the president and his team decided to turn their efforts toward creating a database with information for each college, such as post-graduation earnings, instead of explicitly ranking schools, and letting consumers “vote with their feet.”

Stripling argues that President Obama’s higher education reform efforts are situated within a “surging wave of accountability that will only strengthen when he is gone." For higher education, he writes, "the end of Mr. Obama’s tenure may mark the beginning of what’s to come.”


James Kvaal, former deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council and former deputy under secretary of education, now serves at the Ford School as a Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence.

Jordan D. Matsudaira, chief staff economist for the White House Council of Economic Advisers, is a Ford School alumnus (PhD ’05).

Betsey Stevenson is a former member of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers and is an associate professor of public policy and economics at the Ford School.

Share This
Tags: 
Domestic policy, Education, Public and nonprofit management, James Kvaal, Jordan Matsudaira, Betsey Stevenson, Chronicle of Higher Education, Obama, higher education, accountability, Jacqueline Mullen, Ford School, Betsey Stevenson, James Kvaal, Obama, President

Related News

View All
Jan 28, 2019
Crying recession: Ford professor Betsey Stevenson urges people to look holistically
Recent economic conversations have attempted to forecast... more
Jan 11, 2019
Ford Professor Betsey Stevenson casts doubt on middle-class gains from federal tax cuts
In the January 10, 2019 PBS NewsHour story “Evaluating... more

Related events

View All
Mar
21
Consumer Protection in an Age of Uncertainty
Though consumers look to technology for convenience and... more
Mar
15
12th Annual Gramlich Showcase of Student Work
This event features exceptional student work on a broad... more

Related Past Events

View All
Apr
11
What female economists learned bringing research to White House policy making
Three influential female economists discuss bringing... more
2018 - 
  • 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Oct
01
Barry Rabe: Can We Price Carbon?
Barry Rabe discusses his book Can We Price Carbon?... more
2018 - 
  • 11:30 am to 1:00 pm

RESOURCES FOR:

  • Prospective Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty/Staff
  • Employers
  • Policymakers & Press
  • Alumni
UMFS Ford School Link

Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

University of Michigan

735 South State Street | Ann Arbor, MI 48109

P: 734-764-3490 | F: 734-763-9181

Twitter
Facebook
Google Plus
Pinterest
Flickr
Youtube
Mission & Values
How to Give
**APPAM** **APSIA** **NASPAA** **PPIA**

About

  • About
  • Why the Ford School?
  • Legacy of Gerald Ford
  • Diversity commitment
  • Engagement
  • Global Ford School
  • Ford School Committee
  • Jobs
  • Contact us
  • Ford School Centennial

Academics

  • Academics
  • Course listing
  • Master's programs
  • Undergraduate program
  • Doctoral program
  • Academic resources
  • STPP Grad Certificate
  • PPIA program

Admissions

  • Admissions
  • Tuition and residency
  • Planning your visit
  • Request more information

Careers & internships

  • Careers & internships
  • Undergraduates
  • Graduate students
  • Why hire from the Ford School?
  • Policy Grads at work

Student life

  • Student life
  • Student organizations
  • Housing
  • Ann Arbor

Research & Action

  • Research
  • Faculty experts
  • Visiting policymakers
  • Research centers
  • Faculty publications
  • Research publications

News & events

  • News & events
  • News
  • Events
  • Publications
  • Video
  • Social media

Giving

  • Giving
  • Why give
  • Where to give
  • How to give

Alumni

  • Alumni
  • Alumni events
  • Stay connected
  • Staebler Award
  • Alumni Board

Intranet

Ford School Home Page© The Regents of the University of Michigan | Non-discrimination policy | U-M | Webmaster | Sitemap | Contact