Educating the Top 100 Percent: Policy Pathways for Public Higher Education

The book Educating the Top 100 Percent examines the decline of higher education funding and proposes policy recommendations to make education more accessible and affordable. It highlights the unintended consequences of the current funding model and offers solutions to improve high school-to-college continuation and college graduation rates.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 30 May 2022
Publisher: Harvard Educational Publishing Group

The authors of Educating the Top 100 Percent, Stephen G. Katsinas, Nathaniel J. Bray, and Martha J. Kanter, delve into the intricate dynamics of federal, state, and local policies, shedding light on how government actions have contributed to the long-term decline in US educational attainment. With declining federal and state funding for public higher education, institutions have been compelled to revise their financial models, resulting in the direct transfer of costs to students, detrimentally impacting prospective students and the nation as a whole. Recognizing the unintended consequences of the current funding model, the authors, experts in education policy, emphasize how it denies an ever-increasing portion of the population valuable educational and professional opportunities.

To address this pressing issue, the authors provide a comprehensive analysis of robust quantitative data from national sources. By contextualizing the current financial conundrum and offering practical, sustainable, and stable policy options, Katsinas and his colleagues aim to educate all Americans. Their top-down federal and bottom-up local and state policy solutions are designed to rectify plummeting high school-to-college continuation and college graduation rates, fostering a brighter economic, cultural, and civic future for all.

Through their innovative ideas, key lessons learned, and actionable proposals, the authors present a vision of a better public higher education system that can serve as a catalyst for social and economic mobility. Educating the Top 100 Percent serves as a valuable resource for policymakers, educators, and stakeholders seeking to revitalize higher education and ensure that all Americans have access to affordable and quality education.

Weight: 317g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781682537107