Recent polls find that many Americans have declining confidence in higher education, in large part because of the levels of student debt, the cost of college and concerns about uneven student outcomes. 

To better understand these challenges, NCSL formed a Task Force on Higher Education Affordability and Student Outcomes in 2022. The group has now issued its report. The co-chairs of the task force – Senators Ann Millner (R) of Utah and Michael Dembrow (D) of Oregon – talked with us about what they discovered. Also on the show is Austin Reid of NCSL, a federal affairs adviser in the Washington D.C., office, who worked with the task force.

Reid explained the genesis of the task force and the importance of trying to better coordinate the efforts of state government, the federal government and institutions of higher education.

Dembrow and Millner explained how the bipartisan group of legislators on the task force came to understand the importance of a degree of value. The also expressed hope that the task force’s work will lead to greater coordination between state and federal officials.

Resources

• Task Force on Higher Education Report
• Task Force Report: Enhancing the Value of Higher Ed Degrees, NCSL