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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. [1] Shireman served as the first deputy undersecretary of education in the Obama Administration in 2009–10. [2] He had previously worked in the U.S. Senate (working on the 1992 rewrite of the Higher Education Act), the Clinton Administration, and at nonprofit organizations, including one he founded, The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS). [3] [4]
Shireman earned his B.A. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley), a masters in public administration from the University of San Francisco, and a masters in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. [5]
After college, Shireman opened a lobbying office in Sacramento for the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG), a Ralph Nader-inspired organization in which he had been active as a student at UC Berkeley. [6] Among the issues Shireman pursued was the problem of toxic chemicals in art supplies. [7] At the age of 23, he and a colleague were successful in enacting reforms where other more seasoned advocates had failed, an effort Art News called “a classic case in political action, timing, effective lobbying and organization.” [8]
After CALPIRG, Shireman started working with Consumers Union to address the problem of monied interests in California politics. In September 1986, he and other reformers charged the banking lobby with attempting to bribe state legislators with campaign contributions delivered just as interstate banking legislation was being considered. [9] [10] Shireman became involved in a campaign to enact an initiative to limit campaign contributions and spending on the June 1988 ballot. [11] Dueling successful initiatives led to a complicated result. [12]
While serving as an education advisor to U.S. Senator Paul Simon, Shireman played a significant role in the development and implementation of Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign promise to “scrap” the student loan program and replace it with a national service trust fund that would allow all students to borrow money for college and then repay it either as a small percentage of income over time or through two years of public service. Shireman's role is detailed in a 1996 book, "The Bill," by then-journalist Steven Waldman. [13] Shireman joined the Clinton Administration at the end of the first term and took on the role of shepherding a 1996 campaign promise to create a tax credit for college tuition. [14] In his two years at the White House he also had the lead role in the administration's America Reads Initiative and in the creation of the pre-college preparation program, GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs). [15] [16]
Shireman had a small role in the media response to emerging Monica Lewinsky revelations. In January 1998, with reporters hungry for new information about the scandal, White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry sought to demonstrate that the administration was working on real policy issues. As described in the Washington Post: “One day, knowing full well the networks couldn't care less, he brought out Robert Shireman, senior policy adviser at the National Economic Council, to talk about school construction bonds.” [17] [18]
While at the Department of Education in 2009–10, Shireman put into effect much of the agenda he had developed previously at TICAS, a nonprofit he had founded. [3] TICAS had recommended simplifying the FAFSA (the application process for federal aid) by employing skip logic and allowing applicants to upload their income information from the IRS. [19] [20] As deputy undersecretary Shireman led the successful implementation of that plan. [21] [22]
When President Obama took office in 2009, a liquidity crisis had prevented access to bank-based guaranteed student loans. To preserve access and reduce taxpayer costs, the administration, with Shireman in a lead role, proposed shifting to a 100 percent direct loan system. [23] [24] [16] Originally proposed by Congressman George Miller as the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, the direct loan plan ultimately was attached to the Affordable Care Act, along with a provision Obama proposed to make the income-based repayment (IBR) option more generous to borrowers. [25] IBR was modeled on a TICAS proposal adopted by Congress in 2007. [26]
Shireman is sometimes described as the “architect” of the Obama administration's consumer protection regulations, including clarifying the Higher Education Act's gainful employment provision that determines for-profit college access to federal funding. [27] [28] While Shireman did play a major role in launching that effort, all of the regulations were adopted by the Department of Education months or years after his return home to California in the summer of 2010. [29]
In May 2020, Shireman was appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom to serve as one of the state's representatives to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. [30] In October, 2020, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed him to a term on the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity. [31] From 2004 to 2009 Shireman served as a congressional appointee to the federal Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. [32]
In 1995, the newly elected Republican congress proposed a budget that would slow the growth of spending in the Medicare program. President Clinton accused the GOP of sacrificing the health of seniors to fund tax cuts for the rich. Stung by the claim that congress was proposing “cuts” to Medicare, the Republican National Committee placed full-page advertisements in national newspapers featuring party chair Haley Barbour holding a giant million-dollar check. The ad said: "Heard the one about Republicans cutting' Medicare? The fact is Republicans are increasing Medicare spending by more than half. I'm Haley Barbour, and I'm so sure of that fact I'm willing to give you this check for a million dollars if you can prove me wrong." [33]
Shireman mailed an entry to the contest, arguing that by using the transitive form of the verb “increase” the RNC was asserting causation. Since Medicare spending under the GOP plan would be lower than without it, the RNC's claim was false, asserted Shireman. When the RNC failed to award the prize, Shireman's attorney David Halperin filed a breach of contract case in Washington, DC. The lawsuit survived a motion to dismiss, making a jury trial likely. [34] [35] The RNC subsequently sued all 80 people who had entered the contest, moving the case to federal court in Jackson, Mississippi. Halperin moved that the court transfer the case to federal court in Washington, D.C., and the court granted that motion. [36] Shireman and the RNC ultimately settled, while 20 other people stayed in the suit for years. [37]
After Wall Street short-seller Steve Eisman testified about for-profit colleges in 2010, the industry started attempting to link critics to Eisman, claiming the Department of Education's gainful employment regulatory efforts may have been tainted. [38] [39] [40] Anonymous letters alleged "stock price manipulation by Shireman and Eisman." [41] An investigation was conducted by the department's Inspector General at the request of two Republican senators. [42] It found "no improper disclosure of sensitive information by Department officials in their communications with outside parties. It found that one official may have communicated with a former employer in violation of an ethics pledge, a matter that was referred for further investigation. [43] [44]
Opponents of for-profit colleges alleged that some groups that were raising the short-seller allegations were being paid to do so by the industry. [45] One liberal group was later found to have been taking money from a for-profit college owner's foundation. [46]
In 2012, California Competes, a panel of civic leaders staffed by Shireman and chaired by then-Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster, issued a report calling for changes to California’s higher education system. One recommendation sought to reverse California Community College regulations the group said undermined campus leadership and led to costly stalemates. [47] [48] Under Shireman's leadership the group filed a lawsuit asking a judge to throw out the rules as inconsistent with the law enacted by the legislature. [49] The suit was not successful. [50]
In 2021, Bob Shireman publicly called for a retraction of a 2013 Wall Street Journal article that he says damaged his public reputation by reporting unsubstantiated allegations of insider trading. Shireman added that enemies continue to use the WSJ article to tarnish his efforts. According to National Public Radio's David Folkenflick, "There's no evidence — none — to support any of those claims, despite two federal investigations." The Wall Street Journal, however, has refused to make the retraction or offer an apology. [51]
University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a private for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the certificate, associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree levels. It is institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and has an open enrollment admissions policy for many undergraduate programs. The school is owned by Apollo Global Management and Vistria Group.
The University of Arizona Global Campus is a public online university affiliated with the University of Arizona. The university announced a deal to acquire Ashford University in 2020 and completed the deal in 2023.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a form completed by current and prospective college students in the United States to determine their eligibility for student financial aid.
Student financial aid in the United States is funding that is available exclusively to students attending a post-secondary educational institution in the United States. This funding is used to assist in covering the many costs incurred in the pursuit of post-secondary education. Financial aid is available from federal and state governments, educational institutions, and private organizations. It can be awarded in the form of grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships. In order to apply for federal financial aid, students must first complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Walden University is a private for-profit online university headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It offers bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and specialist degrees. The university is owned by Adtalem Global Education, which purchased the university in August 2021. The institution is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Perdoceo Education Corporation (PRDO) is a public company that owns four for-profit universities in the United States: American Intercontinental University, Colorado Technical University, California Southern University, and Trident University International. The company was previously known as Career Education Corporation.
A Pell Grant is a subsidy the U.S. federal government provides for students who need it to pay for college. Federal Pell Grants are limited to students with exceptional financial need, who have not earned their first bachelor's degree, or who are enrolled in certain post-baccalaureate programs, through participating institutions. Originally known as a Basic Educational Opportunity Grant, it was renamed in 1980 in honor of Democratic U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island. A Pell Grant is generally considered the foundation of a student's financial aid package, to which other forms of aid are added. The Federal Pell Grant program is administered by the United States Department of Education, which determines the student's financial need and through it, the student's Pell eligibility. The U.S. Department of Education uses a standard formula to evaluate financial information reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for determining the student's Expected Family Contribution (EFC).
In the United States, higher education is an optional stage of formal learning following secondary education. It is also referred to as post-secondary education, third-stage, third-level, or tertiary education. It covers stages 5 to 8 on the International ISCED 2011 scale. It is delivered at 3,931 Title IV degree-granting institutions, known as colleges or universities. These may be public or private universities, research universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, or for-profit colleges. U.S. higher education is loosely regulated by the government and by several third-party organizations.
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 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, more commonly known by its acronym SEOG, is a federal assistance grant reserved for college students with the greatest need for financial aid to attend school. To be eligible for this grant, applicants must meet all of the following criteria:
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. Research shows that access to student loans increases credit-constrained students' degree completion, later-life earnings, and student loan repayment while having no impact on overall debt.
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.
Zovio, formerly Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (BPI), was a publicly held, American for-profit education services company. It is no longer in operation. It was the online program manager for one online university, the University of Arizona Global Campus, until the contract termination was announced August 1, 2022. In April 2019, the company changed its name to Zovio, moving its headquarters to Chandler, Arizona. In 2020, the company sold Ashford University to the University of Arizona. Zovio also owned Waypoint Outcomes and Fullstack Academy and traded on NASDAQ under the ticket symbol ZVO.
Steven Eisman is an American businessman and investor known for having shorted collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), thereby profiting from the collapse of the US housing bubble in 2007–2008.
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.
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 part of US higher education for centuries. Privatization of public institutions has been increasing since at least the 1980s.
Purdue University Global, Inc. is a public online university that is a separately accredited part of the Purdue University system. Its primary focus is educating working adults.
California Competes is an American nonprofit policy organization seeking to increase access to college and improve college graduation rates. Created in 2011 by civic and business leaders in California, the group has labeled the state's higher education system dysfunctional and called for better coordination and planning for the future needs of the state's economy. The group's work has included advocating for a more robust statewide education data system and for greater financial supports for parents in college. Prior research had revealed that lower-income areas of the state were being shortchanged in the support they were receiving for community colleges.
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.
For-profit colleges, also known as proprietary colleges, are post-secondary schools that rely on investors, and survive by making a profit. They include for-profit vocational and technical schools, career colleges, and predominantly online universities. For-profit colleges have frequently offered career-oriented curricula including culinary arts, business and technology, and health care. These institutions have a long history in the US, and grew rapidly from 1972 to 2009. The growth of for-profit education has been fueled by government funding as well as corporate investment, including private equity.
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