PEER Project Releases New Research as Department of Education Launches Rulemaking Process
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2022
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PEER Project Releases New Research as Department of Education Launches Rulemaking Process
As the U.S. Department of Education begins Negotiated Rulemaking on higher education issues, the Postsecondary Equity & Economics Research (PEER) Project has released five inaugural research papers and briefs designed to help policymakers protect student loan borrowers.
“Protecting students and promoting equity in higher education has never been more important — especially as we continue to deal with the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Stephanie Cellini, PEER Project Director and Professor of Public Policy and Public Administration, and Economics at George Washington University. “The Department of Education has to get these decisions right, and they can’t do that unless they have reliable evidence about what works. I hope this research will be helpful for negotiators and the Department as they proceed with rulemaking.”
The research papers and policy briefs include:
- Why information alone is not enough to improve higher education outcomes, by Dominique J. Baker, Stephanie Cellini, Judith Scott-Clayton, and Lesley J. Turner, which demonstrates that transparency alone, without institutional accountability, is insufficient to protect students.
- The Importance of "Choice Architecture" for Student Loan Repayment Decisions & Outcomes by Lesley J. Turner, which suggests promising avenues for increasing the take-up of income-driven repayment (IDR) plans: making students aware of the insurance value of IDR, making IDR the default repayment plan, and assisting borrowers with the IDR application process.
- When Do Students and Taxpayers See a Return? Optimal Accountability Thresholds in Higher Education by Doug Webber, which identifies the debt-to-income and repayment rate requirement levels most likely to protect students and taxpayers from footing the bill for predatory or failing colleges and universities.
- Using a High School Earnings Benchmark to Measure College Student Success: Implications for Accountability and Equity by Stephanie Cellini and Kathryn Blanchard, which examines metrics that compare earnings of former college students to those of high school graduates as a measure of program effectiveness and finds that student demographics do not seem to be driving failure of programs on such metrics.
- Hair and Taxes: Cosmetology Programs, Accountability Policy, and the Problem of Underreported Income, by Stephanie Cellini and Kathryn Blanchard finds that, contrary to claims made by some for-profit college programs, underreporting of tips plays little role in whether cosmetology programs meet the requirements of the 2014 Gainful Employment regulation.
“The for-profit college industry has ramped up its recruitment in the wake of the pandemic,” said Student Defense’s Libby Webster. “If the Administration wants to prevent widespread consumer harm, they need to move quickly and make sound decisions. This research should help them do exactly that.”
Launched in 2021, the PEER Project is a joint initiative on higher ed accountability between academics at George Washington University and Columbia University and attorneys at the National Student Legal Defense Network. It brings together university economists and academics with higher education lawyers to identify and support research efforts aimed at promoting equity and accountability in higher education.