James Kvaal became the Education Department’s deputy under secretary of education this month. Formerly a special assistant to President Obama on the White House National Economic Council, he replaces Robert M. Shireman as the department’s top political appointee on higher-education issues.
For 15 years, Mr. Kvaal has worked on higher-education policy in Congress, at the White House, and for the Center for American Progress, a liberal public-policy group. He agreed to answer a series of questions by e-mail.
Q. As a member of the White House National Economic Council, you helped shape and advance President Obama’s agenda for higher education. Which policies, in particular, did you help develop?
A. The president is working to not only restore economic growth and create jobs but to create an economy that does better than the stagnant wages and anemic job creation of the last decade. Increasing the number of college graduates is critical to economic growth that is sustainable and shared.
I was grateful for the opportunity to work with a talented team on limiting student-loan payments to 10 percent of income, which will help borrowers with high debts and low incomes starting in 2014. Simplifying the application process will help more students get the financial aid they need and could eliminate 20 million headaches a year. And our investments in community colleges will strengthen these underappreciated institutions that are open to everyone and essential to our economic future.
Q. You’ve only been on the job a few days, but what are your policy priorities at this point?
A. Secretary Duncan and Under Secretary Kanter say that restoring the U.S. government’s leadership in college graduates by 2020 is our “North Star.” Reaching this goal will require an additional eight million college graduates. More than an increase an enrollment, we need a change in expectations at all levels of education.
We also need to build on the progress we’ve made so far. We need to help every school make a smooth transition into the direct-loan program. A stable funding base for the Pell program is very important. There is more to do in simplifying the Fafsa, improving income-based repayment, and investing in community colleges as well.
Q. One topic you haven’t written or said much about in your prior jobs is for-profit education. What do you see as for-profit colleges’ role in higher education?
A. Many for-profit institutions provide quality educations, and they have pioneered innovative ways to enroll students and help them advance. At the same time, the sector has a history as a home to some deceptive practices. We need to do our best to draw on the strengths of for-profit schools while avoiding past pitfalls.
Q. Are we doing a good job of measuring quality in higher education? Is the “triad” of federal, state, and accreditor oversight working? And are cohort default rates a good gauge of quality?
A. The American system of higher education has earned its reputation as the finest in the world. But we can’t rest on our laurels. While high default rates are a sign that something is not working, we need to know more about completion rates and learning outcomes. The Department of Education, states, and accreditors each have an important role in overseeing schools, and each need to pull their weight. At the department, we are publishing more consumer information and strengthening our program-integrity regulations.
Q. Given that spending on the American Graduation Initiative and community colleges was cut in the final student-loan bill, do you think the president’s goals of leading the world in the percentage of college graduates by 2020 and ensuring that every American obtains a “year or more” of college or job training are still attainable? In the current budget and political climate, will there be enough money and political will to reach these goals? And what more must the federal government, states, and community colleges do to achieve them?
A. I do believe that the goal of once again having “the best-educated, most competitive work force in the world” is attainable. Our country is capable of breakthroughs. We’ve done it before. In the early part of the last century, educational attainment grew by nearly a year every decade. But it will take dedication on the part of the federal government, states, and institutions, including but not limited to community colleges.
The administration is bringing significant new resources to the table. Since the president took office, we have doubled the total amount of scholarships students receive through the Pell program and tripled the amount available through largest college tax credit. The demise of the American Graduation Initiative has been exaggerated: The $2-billion Congress enacted will buy a lot of innovation and evaluation.
In addition to promoting affordability, we need institutions and states to focus on practices that move their students through to success. That means trying and evaluating innovative approaches like performance-based scholarships and online courses, using data to improve performance, and rewarding schools that help their students succeed.
Q. In his higher-education address last year, President Obama said that “colleges and universities have a responsibility to control spiraling costs” and challenged state and college leaders to “put affordability front and center.” Are colleges doing enough to control costs, and do you see a role for the federal government in reining in tuition growth?
A. It’s startling to note that young college graduates’ earnings have fallen over the past decade, while debt levels have continued to grow. Federal student aid and state budgets have a lot to do with college affordability. And President Obama believes that colleges have a responsibility to keep sight of the need for a quality education at an affordable price.
Q. Early in your career, you were a senior policy adviser on President Clinton’s National Economic Council. You rejoined the council last year. In the 10 or so years that intervened, how has the higher-education landscape changed? Are there issues or problems we’ve solved or moved on from? And what are the unresolved issues that seem to come up year after year?
A. A lot has changed, but at the same time many of the same challenges remain. Student-loan reform freed up billions of dollars for college scholarships. Online and for-profit education has grown considerably, as have private student loans. We’ve also learned from behavioral economics on how people make decisions, and the effort to simplify the Fafsa to help more students receive financial aid is one fruit of those lessons. At the same time, we still are not enrolling enough students in college, and more should complete once they start. College tuition and student debts continue to rise. And we should know more than we do about learning outcomes.
