Beth Akers | |
---|---|
Born | 1983 |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Columbia University |
Occupation | Economist |
Organization(s) | Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, American Enterprise Institute |
Elizabeth "Beth" Akers (born 1983) is an American economist known for her advocacy for reform of the federal student loan and financial aid system in the United States. [1]
From 2016 to 2021, Akers was a senior fellow of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, [2] during which she coauthored Game of Loans: The Rhetoric and Reality of Student Debt, published in 2016. [3] Akers was formerly an expert at the Brookings Institution, an American think tank, [4] as well as a member of the Council of Economic Advisors under president George W. Bush. [5] In 2021, she authored a second book, Making College Pay. [6] [7]
Akers has written and contributed to publications such as The Hill , [8] Federalist Society , [9] RealClearEducation, [10] The Boston Globe, [11] Education Next , [12] U.S. News and World Report , [13] Washington Examiner , [14] New America, [15] The Seattle Times , [16] Pioneer Press , [17] The Washington Post , [18] and National Review . [19] She has also given testimony for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce regarding higher education. [20]
In her book, Akers wrote that the education financing system is simply far too complex for the average student or parent borrower to navigate well. She argues that the United States Department of Education should simplify federal financial aid, adopt a single, income-driven repayment plan for federal student loans, and bring market discipline into student lending in innovative ways.
She has stated that enrolling more student loan borrowers into a plan with more protections would be a positive for the system. She has stated she is against of paycheck withholding as being the only option for a loan repayment, but acknowledges that that system would have clear benefits, with automatic payments eliminating "unnecessary defaults". She stated, "The Idea that payroll withholding could be a substitute for our broken loan-servicing system is appealing..." [21]
In 2019, under the American Enterprise Institute, Ackers published an analysis of student loans, finding a pattern of costs that continued through the decade's end. [22] She stated:
"I think Republicans will certainly face pressure to ensure that future Democratic presidents don’t have the authority to cancel more student debt. Their constituents have often been critical of the president's efforts", said Beth Akers, senior fellow focused on higher education and student loans at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). "But this isn't an issue that Republican leaders needed an outraged constituency to motivate them to act. The unlawful and unfair forgiving of student loans goes against the basic tenets of Republican and conservative ideology". [23]
Akers has shown support for a financial aid reform that distributes a larger percentage of money towards students most in need of it. [24]
Akers received a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and economics from University at Albany, SUNY and a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University. [25]
Tertiary education fees in Australia are payable for courses at tertiary education institutions. For most of the "domestic students", the Commonwealth government provides loans, subsidies, social security welfare payments & benefits to relieve the cost of tertiary education, these benefits are not available to the "international students". Some domestic students are supported by the government and are required to pay only part of the cost of tuition, called the "student contribution", and the government pays the balance. Some government supported students can defer payment of their contribution as a HECS-HELP loan. Other domestic students are full fee-paying and do not receive direct government contribution to the cost of their education. Some domestic students in full fee courses can obtain a FEE-HELP loan from the Australian government up to a lifetime limit of $150,000 for medicine, dentistry and veterinary science programs and $104,440 for all other programs.
A student loan is a type of loan designed to help students pay for post-secondary education and the associated fees, such as tuition, books and supplies, and living expenses. It may differ from other types of loans in the fact that the interest rate may be substantially lower and the repayment schedule may be deferred while the student is still in school. It also differs in many countries in the strict laws regulating renegotiating and bankruptcy. This article highlights the differences of the student loan system in several major countries.
In finance, unsecured debt refers to any type of debt or general obligation that is not protected by a guarantor, or collateralized by a lien on specific assets of the borrower in the case of a bankruptcy or liquidation or failure to meet the terms for repayment. Unsecured debts are sometimes called signature debt or personal loans. These differ from secured debt such as a mortgage, which is backed by a piece of real estate.
The Student Loans Company (SLC) is an executive non-departmental public body company in the United Kingdom that provides student loans. It is owned by the UK Government's Department for Education (85%), the Scottish Government (5%), the Welsh Government (5%) and the Northern Ireland Executive (5%). The SLC is funded entirely by the UK government and the devolved administrations. It is responsible for both providing loans to students, and collecting loan repayments alongside HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The SLC's head office is in Glasgow, with other offices in Darlington and Llandudno.
Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (CCi) was a for-profit post-secondary education company in North America. Its subsidiaries offered career-oriented diploma and degree programs in health care, business, criminal justice, transportation technology and maintenance, construction trades, and information technology. A remnant of the schools was owned by ECMC under the Altierus Career College brand until the last three campuses were closed in 2022.
The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) was legislation signed into United States law on November 8, 1965, as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society domestic agenda. Johnson chose Texas State University, his alma mater, as the signing site. The law was intended "to strengthen the educational resources of our colleges and universities and to provide financial assistance for students in postsecondary and higher education". It increased federal money given to universities, created scholarships, gave low-interest loans for students, and established a National Teachers Corps. The "financial assistance for students" is covered in Title IV of the HEA.
The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program provides "low-interest loans for students and parents to help pay for the cost of a student's education after high school. The lender is the U.S. Department of Education ... rather than a bank or other financial institution." It is the largest single source of federal financial aid for students and their parents pursuing post-secondary education and for many it is the first financial obligation they incur, leaving them with debt to be paid over a period of time that can be a decade or more as the average student takes 19.4 years. The program is named after William D. Ford, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Michigan.
The Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri, also known as the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority or MOHELA, is one of the largest holders and servicers of student loans in the United States. Its headquarters are in St. Louis, Missouri. Created in 1981 as a quasi-governmental entity, MOHELA participated in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) for nearly three decades.
Student loans and grants in the United Kingdom are primarily provided by the government through the Student Loans Company (SLC), an executive non-departmental public body. The SLC is responsible for Student Finance England and Student Finance Wales, and is a delivery partner of Student Finance NI and the Student Awards Agency for Scotland. Most undergraduate university students resident in the United Kingdom are eligible for student loans, and some students on teacher training courses may also apply for loans. Student loans also became available from the 2016/17 academic year to postgraduate students who study a taught Masters, research or Doctoral course.
In the United States, student loans are a form of financial aid intended to help students access higher education. In 2018, 70 percent of higher education graduates had used loans to cover some or all of their expenses. With notable exceptions, student loans must be repaid, in contrast to other forms of financial aid such as scholarships, which are not repaid, and grants, which rarely have to be repaid. Student loans may be discharged through bankruptcy, but this is difficult.
Student debt is a form of debt that is owed by an attending, formerly withdrawn, or graduated student to a lending institution, or to a financial institution.
A graduate tax is a proposed method of financing higher education. It has been proposed in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
The higher education bubble in the United States is the possibility that excessive investment in higher education could have negative repercussions in the broader economy. Although college tuition payments are rising, the supply of college graduates in many fields of study is exceeding the demand for their skills, which aggravates graduate unemployment and underemployment while increasing the burden of student loan defaults on financial institutions and taxpayers. Moreover, the higher education bubble might be even more serious than load of student debts. Without safeguards in place for funding and loans, the government risks creating a moral hazard in which schools charge students expensive tuition fees without offering them marketable skills in return. The claim has generally been used to justify cuts to public higher education spending, tax cuts, or a shift of government spending towards law enforcement and national security. There is a further concern that having an excess supply of college graduates exacerbates political instability, historically linked to having a bulge in the number of young degree holders.
The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS) is a non-profit organization founded by Lauren Asher and Robert Shireman in 2005 that works to make higher education more available and affordable for people in the United States. Headquartered in Oakland, California, with a satellite office in Washington D.C., it conducts research, analysis, and provides advocacy. Its work has been cited by USA Today, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and The Atlantic.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program is a United States government program that was created under the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA) to provide indebted professionals a way out of their federal student loan debt burden by working full-time in public service.
Navient Corporation is an American student loan servicer based in Wilmington, Delaware. Managing nearly $300 billion in student loans for more than 12 million debtors, the company was formed in 2014 by the split of Sallie Mae into two distinct entities: Sallie Mae Bank and Navient. Navient employs 6,000 people at offices across the U.S. As of 2018, Navient services 25% of student loans in the United States.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a US$1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to speed up the country's recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing recession. First proposed on January 14, 2021, the package builds upon many of the measures in the CARES Act from March 2020 and in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, from December.
The economic policy of the Joe Biden administration, dubbed Bidenomics, is characterized by relief measures and vaccination efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic, investments in infrastructure, and strengthening the social safety net, funded by tax increases on higher-income individuals and corporations. Other goals include increasing the national minimum wage and expanding worker training, narrowing income inequality, expanding access to affordable healthcare, and forgiveness of student loan debt. The March 2021 enactment of the American Rescue Plan to provide relief from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was the first major element of the policy. Biden's Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed into law in November 2021 and contains about $550 billion in additional investment. His Inflation Reduction Act was enacted in August 2022.
The Higher Education Relief Opportunities For Students (HEROES) Act was legislation passed unanimously by the United States Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 15, 2002. It was extended and amended in 2003, extended in 2005, and made permanent in 2007.
Biden v. Nebraska, 600 U.S. ___ (2023), was a United States Supreme Court case related to the forgiveness of federal student loans by the Biden administration in 2022, challenged by multiple states. The Supreme Court's ruling was issued on June 30, 2023, ruling 6–3 that the Secretary of Education did not have the power to waive student loans under the HEROES Act.