Shireman Is Named Deputy Under Secretary of Education

Washington — It’s official. Robert M. Shireman will stay on at the Education Department as deputy under secretary.

Mr. Shireman, president of the California-based Institute for College Access and Success, has been acting as a consultant to the department for several months. He has long been considered a favorite for a top higher-education post in the Obama administration, but initially he said he didn’t want to return to Washington.

It is unclear how the deputy-under-secretary post relates to the position of assistant secretary for postsecondary education. The department did not respond to calls seeking clarification by the end of the day. The assistant secretary is in charge of administering most of the department’s programs for colleges and students, and advises the secretary on policy.

As a consultant to the department, Mr. Shireman has served as Secretary Arne Duncan’s chief higher-education adviser and spokesman, helping shape President Obama’s positions on Pell Grants, student loans, and student-aid simplification.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Shireman served as an aide to Sen. Paul Simon, a Democrat of Illinois, and as a senior education-policy adviser in the Clinton administration. He was also a member of the Federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, an independent panel that advises Congress.

In other appointment news from the Education Department, Massie Ritsch, the communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, has been named to oversee outreach to education associations, foundations, and think-tanks. —Kelly Field