2007
March 20: Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will host a summit this week on the implementation of recommendations from her Commission on the Future of Higher Education. NACAC's director of public policy David Hawkins will attend, along with nearly 300 other individuals representing various higher education stakeholders.
2006
Sept 26: Secretary Spellings announced today her endorsement of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education's final report, and her plans to implement the recommendations of the commission.
Sept 11: A bipartisan group of Senators sent a letter to Secretary Spellings last week regarding her Commission on the Future of Higher Education. The Senators, all members of the HELP Committee, are concerned that the Department will try to implement the Commission's recommendations through regulatory, rather than legislative channels.
Sept 7: President Bush has nominated Sara Martinez Tucker for Undersecretary of Education. Tucker is the president of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund and a member of the Secretary's Commission on the Future of Higher Education. As a commissioner, her top priorities were access, affordability, and the development of a unit-record system to track the educational progress of individual students.
Aug 17: Read NACAC's comments on the final draft report from the Secretary's Commission on the Future of Higher Education. The Commission's final report is expected in the fall of 2006.
Aug 11: The Secretary's Commission on the Future of Higher Education released its final report today, without the signatory of a key commissioner, David Ward of ACE.
July 28: The Secretary's Commission on the Future of Higher Education has released a second draft report for the Secretary, which is less harsh in its criticism of American higher education. The Commission's next meeting is scheduled for August 10.
July 6: Last week, the Commission on the Future of Higher Education released its draft report for the Secretary. Like the commission's issue papers, the report is critical of US higher education, and makes some recommendations that echo those made by many higher ed groups, including NACAC. However, the report remains seriously flawed. ACE President David Ward, a member of the commissioner, has labeled the report as unrepresentative of the commission's year long discussions and testimonies, and in need of "significant revision."
April 4: The Department's Commission on the Future of Higher Education will hold an open meeting on May 18 and 19 in Washington, DC. Read the federal register notice for details.
March 31: The Department of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education will hold it's fourth meeting in Indianapolis next week. Visit the Commission's web site to view the agenda.
March 14: The National Commission on the Future of Higher Education will hold it's next meeting on April 6 and 7. Visit the Federal Register online for details.
Feb 25: The US Department of Education has announced the second field hearing of the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, to be held in Boston on March 20. Visit the commission online to view a webcast of the hearing.