James Kvaal | |
---|---|
United States Under Secretary of Education | |
Assumed office September 22, 2021 | |
President | Joe Biden |
Preceded by | Ted Mitchell |
Personal details | |
Born | James Richard Kvaal |
Education | Stanford University (BA) Harvard University (JD) |
James Richard Kvaal is an American attorney and education policy advisor who is the current under secretary of education in the Biden administration. Kvaal previously served in the United States Department of Education and White House Office during the Obama administration.
Kvaal earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in public policy from Stanford University in 1996 [1] and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 2007. [2] [3]
Before law school,Kvaal was a policy adviser in the administration of President Bill Clinton. [4]
During the first three years of the Obama administration,he was special assistant for economic policy and deputy undersecretary of education. After working for the Obama 2012 presidential campaign,he served as deputy policy director of the United States Domestic Policy Council in 2016. Kvaal was responsible for developing a federal college ratings system,which ultimately became the College Scorecard. [5] Early in the administration,Kvaal worked to increase Pell Grants and access to financial aid for college and job training. [6] Kvaal also worked to provide financial relief for students at for-profit institutions. [7] [8] [2] [5]
During the Obama administration,Kvaal worked to establish a plan for free community college,announced in 2015. [8] [9] Kvaal traveled the country to promote the plan and to encourage state and local governments to adopt their own versions. [8]
In 2017,he became president of the Institute for College Access and Success,where he continued working to hold colleges accountable,make student debt manageable. [10] [11] [12]
On February 17,2021,Kvaal was announced as the nominee to serve as under secretary of education in the Biden administration. [13] At his confirmation hearing in April 2021,senators raised a number of topics,including student debt,tuition,college football,and oversight of for-profit colleges. [14] Kvaal received bipartisan support from the United States Senate Committee on Health,Education,Labor and Pensions,but his confirmation vote on the senate floor was delayed due to an objection from Senator Elizabeth Warren,which she eventually withdrew.[ citation needed ]
The Senate invoked cloture on Kvaal's nomination on September 13,2021 in a 55-37 vote. [15]
The Senate confirmed Kvaal's nomination on September 14,2021 in a 58-37 vote. [16] [17] [18]
College tuition in the United States is the cost of higher education collected by educational institutions in the United States,and paid by individuals. It does not include the tuition covered through general taxes or from other government funds,or that which is paid from university endowment funds or gifts. Tuition for college has increased as the value,quality,and quantity of education have increased. Many feel that increases in cost have not been accompanied by increases in quality,and that administrative costs are excessive. The value of a college education has become a topic of national debate in the U.S.
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 Under Secretary of Education role was established as the second-highest-ranking position in the United States Department of Education when the agency was established in 1979. With the addition of a Deputy Secretary position in 1991,the Under Secretary became the third highest. The Under Secretary of Education is appointed by the President of the United States,with the approval of the United States Senate,to serve at the President's pleasure.
For-profit higher education in the United States refers to the commercialization and privatization of American higher education institutions. For-profit colleges have been the most recognizable for-profit institutions,and more recently with online program managers,but commercialization has been a part of US higher education for centuries. Privatization of public institutions has been increasing since at least the 1980s.
Robert M. (Bob) Shireman is an American higher education policy expert and nonprofit leader currently working as the director of higher education excellence at The Century Foundation. Shireman served as the first deputy undersecretary of education in the Obama Administration in 2009–10. He had previously worked in the U.S. Senate,the Clinton Administration,and at nonprofit organizations,including one he founded,The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS).
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